Suppose if you want to leave the EU maybe better not to holiday there... Brexit means brexit. Not a fantastic nhs or taking control of your borders....

One could also argue that at the poles the sun only rises once a year, which is the amount of times I am going to answer silly comments like the one you have just made.

I suppose one could argue that the sun rises in the west, since without fail, between about noon and 2:00pm European time, the sun is rising in California, which is irrefutably in the west. Yet that still doesn't change the fact that the sun does indeed rise in the east.

Finally, I suppose a more correct term to describe people who move temporarily to another place but do not intend to stay there permanently could be Migrants, which is subtlety different from immigrant. We could then discuss the meaning of Irregular Migration. Birds tend to do it on a regular basis. Up to you.

The following may also be of interest to you and others following this conversation If you are in Spain on a temporary residency (say, via the Non-Lucrative Visa), you have to spend six months per year in the country to be able to renew said temporary residency. But Spain's Supreme Court had just ruled that requirement illegal. Basically, they said it limits people's freedom of movement. This has two important effects: RENEWALS: Effectively Spanish immigration cannot turn down your temporary residency renewal because you were outside the country for more than six months in the previous 12 months. TAX RESIDENCY: You could theoretically avoid tax residency status (acquired when you have lived here for more than half a year) and still renew your temporary residency. BUT (big BUT here): tax residency status is calculated in numerous ways, such that I would treat this more as a theoretical benefit at the moment and I would certainly recommend legal advice if you're curious about this "benefit" of the Supreme Court ruling.

Diddums, is Morgan upset that Richard actually does have some knowledge about the OFFICIAL interpretation of Irregular Immigration ?. As I have said many times before, this has nothing to do with your understanding, published many times before in these columns, in that it has all to do with people residing, in this case Spain, longer than they are theoretically allowed to. The word “immigration”:should have warned you about this. ETIAS will not prevent or stop them from doing this, especially when they have the Golden, Non-lucrative and Nomad Visa’s at their disposal. Also, if they wanted too, the Spanish government have a powerful weapon that could help dissuade people from becoming too cocky about trying to overstep the line. This weapon is called the Mobile phone, traceable 24/7 ANYWHERE in the world. Finally, you waste no time in criticizing other members of the community and journalists of this esteemed newspaper when you disagree with their views, but tend to ignore questions directed to yourself (you know which ones) when they back you into a corner you would find it difficult to wriggle out of. Bona tarda

Richard PearsonNice diversion attempt, but I don't know how you could interpret that as not referring to “Movement of persons to a new place of residence or transit that takes place outside the regulatory norms of the sending, transit and receiving countries”. In other words, assuming residence without conforming to the regulations of residence in that country. For example, living there without obligatory official registration (or conversely, failing to deregister in their previous place of residence). It's not just "overstaying". It's taking up permanent residence without officially doing so. Anyway, that's about to become much more difficult in the Schengen area, since it directly addresses the root causes of the largest segment of undocumented immigration (as even you noted in your previous statement ...since your newfound expertise on that topic). Nonetheless, perhaps the UK would be wise to consider similar measures, instead of simply using blunt instruments such as spending the bulk of their resources on headline grabbing "boat people", sending them off to Rwanda, or generally vilifying foreigners, which has tangibly precious little impact on undocumented immigration, yet clearly has resulted in some seriously negative side effects.

Irregular immigration as defined by the European Comission: “Movement of persons to a new place of residence or transit that takes place outside the regulatory norms of the sending, transit and receiving countries” Overstaying their welcome does not fall into this category as they arrived on a legal basis, ie regulatory norms.

@Morgan Williams I have just been on the link you provide and what seems obvious to me is the UK desperately needs I/D cards. I know that is not quite the subject but it is definitely tied in with the greater cause of the UK living around and with Europe. To save anyone the research the countries in the world that do not have i/d cards are : Australia,NZ,Canada( no surprises) Japan, DR Congo, Libya and some tiny island nations . So for those who throw up their hands in horror at the perceived curtailing of their hooman rights, now they know where they can move to. For the rest of us life will go on as normal, except for those who are in the UK illegally . As of now we don't have a clue how many that is.

Richard PearsonIt's odd that you mention this now, since only a few days ago, you apparently had no clue what "irregular immigration" was, and assumed it was mostly the result of refugees or "boat people". But it's at least progress. Having said that, since you're an avid researcher, surely you are aware that Spain isn't the only country struggling with this. But as, we've discussed, ETIAS should help significantly throughout the EU. Ironically, the UK has the least understanding of the scale and scope of undocumented immigrants. One can only suspect this is a result of the UK's unique lack of registration or obligation to identify oneself. No ID cards, can drive on a driving licence from almost anywhere... etc. And consequently, this might explain the popularity of migrating to the UK by undocumented immigrants and/or those seeking to arrive clandestinely (e.g., "boat people"). Simply because once you arrive, it's much easier to avoid detection. Furthermore, as the scale of undocumented immigrants in the UK is largely unknown, it may well have pushed the Brexit vote just over the threshold, as it was sold largely on the elimination of the (unknown scope of) "illegals", who ironically may or may not be "illegal" at all, since it's difficult to know. But they're foreigners, and that was the primary rationale. So that may explain why you seem to make uninformed assumptions about these things. It's just what you're used to. https://www.jcwi.org.uk/who-are-the-uks-undocumented-population