\n In this week’s edition we look at how recent articles in the British press claiming Spain is directly targeting UK retirees and dashing their hopes of owning a Spanish holiday home have failed to focus on the elephant in the room.\n <\/p>\n
After years of covering Spanish news, I\u2019ve lost count of all the exaggerated or erroneous claims about Spain in the UK tabloids.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There was the story about fines for urinating in the sea<\/a> in Spain, the supposed ban on tourists drinking alcohol in the Balearics<\/a>, the one about the so-called ‘\u00a397 daily rule’<\/a> Spain was apparently imposing on UK tourists, the claim that Spain was lobbying to let Brits stay longer than 90 days after Brexit<\/a>, Ryanair\u2019s alleged ban on duty-free alcohol on Spain-bound flights<\/a>, the one about Lanzarote supposedly snubbing British holidaymakers<\/a>, and the list goes on.<\/p>\n But sometimes it\u2019s the more traditional broadsheets that get it wrong, or at least partly.<\/p>\n Over the last couple of weeks, two leading British newspapers have published articles implying that Spanish authorities are looking to stop UK nationals from buying homes in Spain.<\/p>\n The Telegraph ran with \u201cHow Spain dismantled the British expat dream\u201d<\/a> while The I Paper went with \u201c’The gravy train is over’: Spain is turning on British expats\u201d<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Both articles do a pretty good job covering recent and not so recent proposals to limit property purchases<\/a> by non-residents in Spain at a regional and national level, as well as mentioning other anti-mass tourism measures touted or introduced.\u00a0<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n The two pieces are also right to illustrate that a part of Spanish society, as well the ruling Socialists, partly blame affluent foreigners for the housing crisis locals are facing.\u00a0<\/p>\n READ ALSO: Barcelona mayor ‘would ban’ non-EU second home owners<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n But what is wrong is to claim that \u201cSpain dismantled the British expat dream\u201d or that the country has \u201cturned on British expats\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n No, Brexit dismantled the British expat dream and Brexit turned on Brits abroad – residents and swallows included.\u00a0<\/p>\n Prior to Brexit, Brits could decide when and how long they wanted to spend in Spain without having to worry about visas, the 90-day rule, overstaying or stricter residency rules for non-EU nationals.\u00a0<\/p>\n Rich, poor, young and old could effortlessly give Spain a go. They could have their cake and eat it, as residents or non-residents.\u00a0<\/p>\n Brexit changed that completely, and the emergence of potential limits on foreign buyers in Spain has just further exposed the drawbacks of becoming non-EU citizens<\/a>.<\/p>\n Because any property ban aimed at foreigners at a regional or national level – none of which have come into force with the exception of the golden visa being axed – is far more likely to apply to third-country nationals, as the EU protects its own.<\/p>\n READ ALSO: Are non-EU property buyers really to blame for Spain’s housing crisis?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Needless to say, the \u2018British expat dream\u2019 – whatever that is really – is far from over.\u00a0<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n If the implication of this dream is having a Spanish holiday home, then Brits can rest assured that they can still buy property in Spain and Pedro S\u00e1nchez\u2019s proposed 100 percent tax on non-residents from outside of the EU has gone cold for nearly a year<\/a>.<\/p>\n