From Madrid to Malaga, and Barcelona to Benidorm, 300,000 Britons have made Spain their home. No matter the terms of our departure from the EU, you will continue to be able to live and work in Spain.
But to make sure your daily needs are met, there are some steps you must take to get ready for Brexit on 31 October. You’ll need to register for residency, check your healthcare cover, verify your passport validity online and exchange your UK driving licence for a Spanish one. To check the specific actions you need to take, and stay up to date, go to the Living in Spain Guide at gov.uk/livinginspain.
In Government, we are doing our bit to get ready for Brexit, too. We are making sure that on 1 November, every British national living in Spain can go on living, working, studying and accessing healthcare.
We are working with the Spanish authorities to make processes as smooth and straightforward as possible, whether you’re applying for residency or a new driving licence.
And we are working with the Spanish National Health System, SNS, to ensure that tourists, students and European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) holders will be able to access healthcare in the same way until at least 31 December 2020.
We are working hard to reach a deal with the EU. But even if the UK leaves without a deal, the UK and Spain have each taken steps to ensure you will be able to continue accessing healthcare in Spain, exactly as you do now, until at least 31 December 2020 if you are an S1 form holder.
Of course, every circumstance is unique. And we know that some British people might need some extra support during this transition.
We want to support those who may find it harder to complete all the paperwork – like pensioners or disabled people, those living in remote areas, and those needing assistance with language translation or interpretation.The Foreign Office has allocated an extra £3 million for charities and other voluntary organisations to help these people keep their rights and access to services in the EU.
You should be checking in regularly with the Embassy in Madrid or local consulates in Alicante, Barcelona, Ibiza, Las Palmas, Malaga, Palma de Mallorca, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, for information on upcoming local ‘question and answer’ sessions, town hall meetings and information stands in supermarkets and on high streets.
And by now, you should also be seeing one of the largest information campaigns in British history, which launched with advice in newspapers and on billboards, encouraging people across the UK and Europe to Get Ready for Brexit.
This is an exciting time, but also one of unprecedented change. We’re getting ready for Brexit on 31 October, and I would urge you to do the same.
5 comments
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I feel totally left out although being British. No one has said waht will happen ti those who have lived, studied and worked here, not though born in Mallorc with a Brisih mother.I have not been to the "British" consulate as they are not at all helpful and know nothing, not even the price of a British passport (last time I went) and did not want to know that our Mother had passed away.All I can say is that when things get worse I shall go back to UK and turn up outside nr. 10 Downing Streer for a home & a job.
Can I trust what an English Politician that says concerning what will be ok after Brexit. Many of the Ex Pats I know have known have returned to the U K. I feel that I may have to return too. It must be concerning for those EU people liviing and working in the UK. I really do not feel safe here anymore.
And the meeting in Pollença today was a complete shambles. No room booked, for goodness sakes. Had to start outside before a space came up. And others left waiting in Puerto Pollença who were told to go there instead. Is this the quality of what to expect from British Consular services before, during or after Brexit? Woefully pathetic. Piss up in a brewery springs to mind.
If, if, if you do a Brexit then the next step is for the Scots to leave England!!! They just wait! Look at the election coming !!!!!!!!!!!
Saying that you are "working hard to ensure" and are "taking steps" are not wholly convincing, although at least more positive than a lot of the jargon heard recently. but they are also quite vague statements that suggest that nothing is agreed or confirmed in concrete yet. Let's hope it materialises as he has said.