The United Kingdom’s Embassy in the Spanish Capital, Madrid, has issued a statement reminding its citizens living in Spain that their “Green Certificates” issued by the Extranjería office or the National Police office are still valid.
According to the statement, holders of the A4 green certificates, or those holding the certificate in credit-card sized piece of paper, retain the right to reside and work in Spain under Spain’s implementation of the UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement.
At the same time, the Embassy notes that these certificates exempt British nationals living in Spain from the new travel requirements that are set to be introduced by the EU countries in 2024 and 2025.
As a result, this document exempts UK nationals from the upcoming Entry Exit System (EES) and European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) and from any visa requirements and from the 90/180-day Schengen Area rule.
Yet, the Embassy advises its nationals to exchange their green certificate or card for a Spanish Foreign Identity Card (TIE), pointing out that the Spanish authorities also advise such a thing.
Exchanging these types of cards for a TIE, is not a legal requirement though.
UK nationals with the green certificate or green card should not be treated differently, as their Withdrawal Agreement rights are unaffected by the type of documentation they hold.
According to Statista, a German online platform that specializes in data gathering, the number of British nationals living in Spain has peaked in 2022 at 313,975, excluding 2013, when there were 316,362 nationals of the UK living in the country.
Data point out that while the number of Brits in Spain continuously dropped from 2013 until 2018, it then started to increase year-on-year from 2019 and on.
The coastal region of Andalusia ranks the top favourite for UK nationals in Spain with 92,180, followed by the region of Valencia with 87,700 residents originally from the UK. Next is listed the Canary Islands with 29,631, Catalonia with 24,689, and the Balearic Islands with 19,569.
Spain is also a top favourite tourism destination for British citizens, with 15.1 million Brits visiting Spain in 2022 alone.
