His father, Joseph, had previously retired to Spain<\/a> and had never faced the daunting paperwork that now confronts Harrington.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen my dad went in the late 90s, he had none of this. He just literally sold his house and [they] were in Spain in their new house the next day. I have to admit, I have to take responsibility for this. But it is what it is,\u201d he admits.<\/p>\n Since Brexit, most Britons have been limited to spending 90 days in the EU within a 180-day period<\/a>.<\/p>\n Harrington, 57, a financial adviser, and his wife, Lorraine, who are moving from Harlow in Essex to Albox in Andalusia, southern Spain, are applying for a non-lucrative visa (NLV), which costs \u20ac500 (\u00a3435) to apply.<\/p>\n They must show they have at least \u20ac28,800 (\u00a325,100) per year in income, private health insurance, no criminal record, and that they are not suffering from any rare diseases listed by the World Health Organisation.<\/p>\n The couple is not alone in having to navigate huge levels of red tape. Since Brexit, the process of moving abroad<\/a> has become vastly more complex and expensive \u2013 and it is affecting who can make the move.<\/p>\n Qualifying for the NLV, one of the few visa pathways to moving, can be more expensive than before Brexit, especially if you have to pay for private health insurance. While UK state pensioners can use the Spanish healthcare system for free, there is now far more bureaucracy to navigate, meaning many would-be expats have to pay a relocation agent to help.<\/p>\n Lawyers and estate agents who help people move to Spain say they have noticed a change in the profile of Britons moving there<\/a>.<\/p>\n Gone are the days when anyone could leave their old life behind in the UK and head for the Spanish sun.<\/p>\n Now, only better-off pensioners or Britons who want to work in Spain can afford to make the move, say relocation specialists.<\/p>\n Spanish government data released last month found that for the first time, there were now 500,000 foreign-born self-employed workers in Spain, a 6 per cent rise between 2025 and the year before.<\/p>\n Of these, 26,220 are British, a 41 per cent year-on-year increase. This is the highest group of self-employed workers after the Chinese.<\/p>\n Most self-employed Britons are working in Spain after securing the digital nomad<\/a> visa. A much smaller number have their own companies, which can require a separate visa.<\/p>\n When The i Paper approached the Spanish government for data on how many Britons had the LNV or digital nomad visa<\/a>, it was told the latest figure on UK citizens who had secured residency between 2020 and December 2025 was 250,713.<\/p>\n Emma Randle, a British lawyer who specialises in helping UK citizens secure visas to move to Spain, said the profile of would-be expats had changed dramatically since the Brexit vote in 2016.<\/p>\n \u201cBefore you could literally move from Spain with about \u20ac8,000 (\u00a36,971) without having to prove anything, whereas these days it is completely regulated and you have to have a much higher amount of income. You have to show two or three times what you needed before Brexit,\u201d said Randle, who moved to Almer\u00eda in southern Spain from Birmingham in 2007.<\/p>\n \u201cI cannot imagine that we have the same number of people coming to Spain as we did before Brexit.<\/p>\n \u201cThe dream of coming to Spain is now applicable only for people who have an income of over \u20ac30,000 a year when they retire. It only applies to the wealthy.\u201d<\/p>\n Keith Spitalnick, founder and director of Target Property Spain in Mijas Costa, near M\u00e1laga<\/a>, said he had noticed fewer retirees moving to Spain.<\/p>\n \u201cSince Brexit, I\u2019ve definitely noticed a shift in the type of people moving to Spain. We\u2019re seeing fewer retirees making the move, mainly because healthcare has become more expensive and less straightforward, which has impacted on affordability for that group,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cOn the flip side, there has been a real increase in younger families, especially those who can work remotely and take advantage of the digital nomad visa.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/caption-young-adult-working-remotely-from-a-rocky-beach-with-his-laptop-sitting-on-an-outdoor-chair-.png\")
The couple are applying for a non-lucrative visa to Spain. Another option for Britons moving to Spain is the digital nomad visa (Photo: Jose Martinez\/Getty) <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-516802432.jpg\")
Relocation specialists say better-off pensioners are among those few cohorts of Britons who can now afford to move to Spain (Photo: Getty)<\/p>\n