[Anonymous]

Citizens of the European Union (EU) like Britain are entitled to live and work in other EU member states like Spain. However, as I discovered some months back, this does not mean that you can have permanent residency in Spain. From what I understand you are entitled to stay up to three months (90 days) in Spain. If you want stay longer you need to apply for a residence certificate, or residence permit or residence visa. How can the Spanish authorities possibly know how long you have been in the country when there are no border controls amongst the EU members states anymore which means that you can go in and out of Spain from France or Portugal without the Spanish authorities ever knowing that you are doing it? If this is the case then is it really necessary to obtain a registration certificate if you are intending to stay in Spain for longer than 90 days given that the Spanish authorities cannot know when you entered the country in the first place.

Apparently there are lots of British expats who have been living in Spain for years without ever having obtained a residence permit, which means that they are living in Spain illegally. What I am asking is is it worth the trouble to obtain a residence permit and run the risk of not being granted a residence certificate for one reason or another, when you can stay in Spain as long as you like in any case because the spanish authorities have no way of proving how long you have been in the country in the first place?

I have read that it is not automatic for a British citizen to acquire a residence certificate but it is assessed based on whether that person has sufficient financial means to stay in Spain. Is this true? If this is correct then this means that if a British person of insufficient means were to apply for a certificate/permit there is a good chance that it may get rejected.

I assume that if a British citizen buys a property in Spain then that does not entitle that person to stay in Spain permanently and is subjected to the 90 day restriction regardless of whether that person owns a property or not in spain – is this correct?

I am slightly confused in that I have read things about residency in Spain in so many different places. What is the difference between a residence certificate, a residence permit and a residence visa?

How long does a residence certificate last for? Is a residence certificate worth applying for when the spanish authorities cannot possibly know when you entered the country anyway?

[Anonymous]

If you buy and come and live here, then register and get your certificate and empadronamiento (they no longer give us ‘tarjetas’), unless you have tax reasons for doing things differently. You can probably get buy without registering, but life is just easier if you do.

[Author]

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