The UK was not part of the Schengen area even before Brexit, but as an EU member, UK passport holders were allowed full freedom of movement without any kind of limits until 31st December 2020.
With the UK leaving the EU, the situation has changed a lot.
Spain is one of the 33 member countries of the Schengen area, which mostly is a single jurisdiction for international travel purposes, with a standard visa policy.
If you want to spend more than 3 months within a period of 180 days, you will either have to be legally resident in Spain or obtain a Visa.
That’s all! You have to be resident in Spain or get a Visa. There doesn’t seem to be any loophole in the rules, at least nothing has been found yet by anyone.
Suppose you are already resident in Spain before the end of the Transition Period (by 31/12/20) and you have a legal residence document, these new rules don’t affect you.
In fact, any time you spend in Spain is not counted towards your annual Schengen total, so you can visit France or Germany from Spain up to 3 months, as any other Spanish resident, foreign or national.
Before travelling, it’s essential to check that the United Kingdom passport must be at least 6 months valid and less than 10 years old.
From 2022 there will be new rules, British citizens will not need a visa to visit Europe, but will have to process an ETIAS visa waiver. We will cover this in another article at length.
