British expats in Spain: Demand for second homes drops after Brexit | Travel News | Travel
Spain is one of the most popular destinations for British expats. But while many retired Britons choose to live permanently in Spain, others opt for holiday homes.
However, since the Brexit transition period ended, Britons can only stay in Spain for 90 out of every 180 days.
This has affected some Britons, known as ‘swallows’, who travelled to Spain for several months during the winter.
Under Brexit laws, they would need to have Spanish residency if they wanted to stay for over 90 days.
German buyers are now the biggest group of international purchasers in the property market in Spain.
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According to data from Sede Registradores, Spain’s network of land registries, British buyers made 1,642 transactions in the third quarter of 2021.
That amounted to just under 10 percent of all foreign sales but demand was down by 47 percent from 2019 figures.
Nick Ball, spokesperson for Atlantico Homes Estate Agents in Lanzarote, said: “The latest data is certainly interesting but perhaps not quite as gloomy as you might expect.
“Brits who have chosen to live in Spain after Brexit are still as active in the property market as ever.
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“The British still remain the largest foreign owners of property in Spain and the second largest buyers by nationality in 2021.
“However, there is no getting away from the fact that the UK’s withdrawal from the EU has resulted in a number of changes that make buying a holiday home in Spain a far less attractive proposition than it once was.
“As owners can now spend 90 days out of every 180 at their place in the sun.”
He added that Britons who buy a property as an investment now have to pay 25 percent more tax on their earnings.
The Balearics are also a popular choice but prices are generally higher on the desirable islands.
Recent data from property experts idealista revealed that some of Spain’s best value property is in the popular area of Alicante.
Meanwhile Benidorm was recently named the most ‘British’ town in Spain based on the number of expat residents and British bars and restaurants.
Other ‘British’ areas were named as Torrevieja, Fuengirola and Orihuela which are all popular holiday destinations.
