Brexit. The B word that is on everybody’s minds right now, especially any Brit who is living in or considering a move to a European country. It’s hardly surprising then that a number of clients have asked me to write an article on the potential effects of a British exit from the European Union. So here’s my two (euro) cents’ worth.

The first thing to say is that nobody really knows exactly what’s going to happen with Brexit. Least of all, it would seem, the British government. Just yesterday Britain’s ambassador to the European Union and one of their most experienced EU diplomats resigned amidst a row over his candid observations that Brexit negotiations could take as long as 10 years.

This thing could run and run. In the meantime, there’s really no point in getting bogged down in pointless speculation but there are some things that we do know for sure and which I’ll try and outline here.

I can tell you for one that currently Brexit is, somewhat counter-intuitively, serving to give a push to my core market as Brits rush to get themselves established in Spain before Brexit kicks in, in whatever format it ends up taking. Many people who may have been dreaming for years of a move to Spain have suddenly found their plans firmly shoved from the back burner to the front as they see the possibility of their dreams being snatched away from them by external forces.

For the Brits who are already here and legally resident it is likely that not a huge amount will materially change although there will almost certainly be more bureaucratic hoops to jump through.

Facts for residents:
– if you have been legally resident in Spain for ten years or more you can apply for Spanish citizenship. (Note, Spain doesn’t recognise dual nationality although Britain does.)
– If you are an EU citizen who has been a legal resident for 5 years or more you have the right to permanent residency without any conditions.

EU nationals living in Spain are required to register with the Spanish authorities (Extranjería). This resident’s document has no expiry date on it and many Brits are now keen to get over here and get registered as an EU resident as soon as possible in order to try and protect their automatic rights to live and work here. It is possible that the rights of those already resident before Brexit takes place will be protected, plus the sooner you get registered as resident the sooner you start clocking up years of residency, accumulating rights and moving towards a position where you could apply for permanent residency or citizenship. That being said, until negotiations take place over the rights of EU citizens in Britain and vice versa we can’t know for sure what the outcome will be.

The right to buy property and the right to own a business are enshrined under international law and so will not be affected by an exit from the EU. 

The process for purchasing property in Spain is exactly the same for non-EU citizens as it is for EU ones. I have sold properties to South Africans, Americans, Brazilians and Australians as well as Europeans and it has been equally straightforward in all cases.

Where rights do differ is in the right to residency and to work. If we take the worst-case scenario and imagine a full-on hard Brexit, where Britain gives no quarter, leaves the single market and completely rejects free movement of labour then we would be looking at Brits having to go through the same processes as, say, an American citizen in order to obtain the right to live and work in Spain.

The thing to remember is that Americans and other non-EU citizens can and do manage to get work and residency permits for Spain. It may be a convoluted and time-consuming process but it is do-able and there is help out there. Sites like Spain Guru provide great advice on the processes that non-EU citizens need to go through in order to live and work legally in Spain.  Check out their article on the main routes to getting a work-permit in Spain here.

As many of my clients are entrepreneurial types with aspirations to develop a business or work on a freelance basis here in Spain I know that the self-employment (or autónomo) option and that of owning a business will be of particular interest. Other routes to residency are also available however, such as a non-lucrative residency visa if you have funds to support yourself and do not need to seek employment in Spain – I have some South-African clients who now live here on this basis, for example.

So those are the worst-case, hardest-Brexit scenarios. As I said at the start though, we don’t know when or how Brexit will really happen and it’s not something that we have any control over. The bottom line is that if you really want to move to Spain then you need to find a way to make it work for you. And you will.