Spanish tourism officials are actively lobbying the European Union to ease travel restrictions for British citizens, specifically pushing to bypass the post-Brexit 90-day limit for Schengen Area stays. At the moment non-resident Britons in Spain can only spend 180 days a year, in two batches of 90 days.
Spanish tourism secretaries, including former ministers Fernando Valdés and Hector Gomez, have argued that this post-Brexit rule severely harms the Spanish economy. Second-home owners and long-stay British holidaymakers traditionally contribute billions to local economies across regions like the Costa del Sol, Balearic Islands, and Canary Islands.
Spain has explored the possibility of bilateral agreements or lobbying for EU-wide exceptions to allow British tourists to remain for up to 180 days (six months) at a time, mirroring reciprocal allowances that Spanish citizens historically enjoyed in the UK.
While Spain has continually sought changes, the 90-day cap remains firmly in place across the Schengen zone. Until Brussels amends the rules, British travellers must rely on traditional long-stay visas or residency permits to remain in Spain beyond 90 days.
One of the reasons the new European Exit and Entry System was introduced was to crackdown on those non-residents who were spending more time in Spain.