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Carnage in Spain (and France and Italy) for British Ex Pats this week


Vince Green
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50 minutes ago, ratchers said:

I don't quite get the rationale behind chucking them out, all these people ex pats spend money in their locale, they will contribute to the local taxes of their communes.

Reduce the tax taken and services will suffer for all.

Is this not EU spite again?

We left the EU and of course Gib in a nutshell. The ordinary Spanish people who these ex pats are spending money with would be quite happy to have them stay but the mardy Euro lovers just being spiteful.  Simple.

Sounds like we need to have words with the Aussie and New Zealand wine growers to up the production of bubbly.

Edited by Walker570
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15 minutes ago, ordnance said:

It would be their own fault for not registering. 

Absolutely, one has to ask why they didn't register as required? Smart beasts of burden?

Maybe they thought that the Spanish authorities would treat them in the same complacent way as here? .......Wrong?

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Certainly for Spain it seems to be that Brits haven't checked out what the new, post brexit, rules would be. As far as I can make out they were known well before 1-1-21 and as we are a third country then the new rules apply, residents need to have @ £2K entering their account for one person, but extra family members need £500 each on top. Home owners without residency cannot come and go as they please, they can only have 90 days out of 180 in the country. Surely they should have checked first on what the outcome of brexit would be for them?

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1 minute ago, henry d said:

Certainly for Spain it seems to be that Brits haven't checked out what the new, post brexit, rules would be. Surely they should have checked first on what the outcome of brexit would be for them?

You would have hoped so.

But if they have decided not to do as their chosen country wishes who else have they to blame?

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My friend owned a place in Spain for many years and I can remember him saying years ago it was really complicated, you have to tick a lot of boxes because their local government was a bureaucratic nightmare. Its Feudal, you have to pay money to the mayor, money here money there to different local busybodies.

My guess is a lot of people didn't appreciate the twists and turns or didn't take it seriously. Or, more likely perhaps, they bought through sharky estate agents who told them nobody bothers with all that stuff

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1 hour ago, ratchers said:

I don't quite get the rationale behind chucking them out, all these people ex pats spend money in their locale, they will contribute to the local taxes of their communes.

Reduce the tax taken and services will suffer for all.

Is this not EU spite again?

Your probably right its sour apples, yet all they are doing is sending home Brits who happily spend their money there?

A relative of mine had to sell a place they had in France and wasn't happy about it at all,  having a dig at anyone who had stayed there but voted leave, I've no idea why they had to sell.

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I have had a place in Spain for a few years and know loads of expats. From what I hear those who have applied have found it straight forward enough. There are also plenty who have moved out there a while ago. Their property is now worth less than they paid and many would not have the cash to buy back in the UK.  

Also it was more tax efficient to retain UK citizen ship and that's why many have done. 

Quite honestly I think this may not be as bad as portrayed. 

Just my opinion but I think there is a bit of remoaner 'we told you so ' in all this

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i have friends who have to come home and its  not just a case of not registering they told me some of the things you have to do is learn to drive for a Spanish drivers license no matter if you got UK one you have to have your pension transferred to a Spanish bank and get taxed again on it plus applying for the residency and meeting all that criteria  and its no good saying they had 4 yrs to sort it because it has only just come to light what they had to do 

Edited by Rim Fire
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It does not matter how tricky, or how many hoops, it is up to anyone moving overseas to comply with the local rules and move there legally. It is entirely their responsibility to ensure they have done their research, if they do not feel able to do this on their own then the simple answer is to hire a solicitor. I have no problem with Spain kicking out illegal immigrants, we should be doing the same.

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1 hour ago, Rim Fire said:

is learn to drive for a Spanish drivers license

I smell a rat.

If one lived in Spain when still in the EU, why on earth would one not exchange a UK licence for a Spanish one?  Would cause far fewer issues with the Guardia Civile during a traffic stop.  You were supposed to exchange licences to a local one after a year of living in in a different member state.

As for the tax position on pensions, have the state pension paid in to the Spanish account, everything else in a UK account.  

Edited by udderlyoffroad
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I could say so much about all this as someone who has a true picture of the situation.  Anyone who knows how Spain works will point out the Spanish attitude to rules. They may be showing some initial vigour but it will soon slip.  For this to work they will have to set up an efficient system at all points of entry and meticulously log in every exit and entry to their country.  I must have been in and out of Spain a dozen times a year before covid and not once has anyone checked my passport over there. Over here we are checked and logged electronically on every visit.

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2 hours ago, Rim Fire said:

i have friends who have to come home and its  not just a case of not registering they told me some of the things you have to do is learn to drive for a Spanish drivers license no matter if you got UK one you have to have your pension transferred to a Spanish bank and get taxed again on it plus applying for the residency and meeting all that criteria  and its no good saying they had 4 yrs to sort it because it has only just come to light what they had to do 

Thats just not true Rimfire, If they applied before the 31/01/21, it was pretty straightforward, straight swop for your license4500 a year income, you did need health insurance, but once you had been resident a year, you could join the Spanish national health system. I went through all this last year, but I came back in July due to covid.

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On 29/03/2021 at 14:54, Zapp said:

Having been out to visit my mother in law on the Costa Blanca I can well believe the sentiments expressed in this screengrab.  She has more sense but I spoke to a lot of Brit expats who were voting leave but who were massively complacent about what it might mean for them if they didnt then apply for their resedencia.  

What ZAPP said +1. My Nigerian wife was granted both French residency (as my spouse under EU Directive 2004/38) and then, later, when we returned permanently to the UK in August 2019 UK residency under Britain's EU Settlement Scheme as the family member of a British Citizen who had exercised Directive 2004/38 rights .

Both processes although time consuming and somewhat bureaucratic were also free. 

I've absolutely no sympathy with Mr Cromber at all. He voted for it. Now he can own it. After all as "Vote Leave" et al said "We all know what we're voting for." He wanted it. To leave the EU and to end freedom of movement. Now he can own it.

If Mr Cromber couldn't be bothered then he can always call Farage. He might even have an investment opportunity available for the proceeds of the sale of his resedencia.

I'm with 243 DEER, GU5, TIGHTCHOKE and HENRY D. I don't believe anyone with sense wasn't aware of the dates and what needed to be done. If others chose to ignore the requirements then the only fault is theirs.

Edited by enfieldspares
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7 hours ago, Chris B123 said:

Thats just not true Rimfire, If they applied before the 31/01/21, it was pretty straightforward, straight swop for your license4500 a year income, you did need health insurance, but once you had been resident a year, you could join the Spanish national health system. I went through all this last year, but I came back in July due to covid.

Can only say what i was told 

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2 hours ago, old'un said:

Does that mean the end of the channel 5 “Bargain-Loving Brits in the Sun”

is that like saturated spainyards............when they come over here

6 minutes ago, henry d said:

 

Really, retirement? Total testes

is that a liecenced medicle term...........that refers to "reproductive sphericals"........:hmm:

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