We wrote an article recently detailing that many British nationals living in Spain and other EU countries, have received letters from their UK banks telling them that their accounts will be closed at the end of 2020.  This due to no Brexit trade deal having been agreed.  

That article explained the impact of no Brexit trade deal on financial services providers in the UK.  After 31st December 2020, these service providers will not legally be able to carry on providing services to their expat clients who reside in Spain or other EU countries.

The Brexit transition period ends at the end of the year, and with it the financial services licence EU ‘passporting’ rights which allow UK firms to provide financial services in EU countries. 

As a result many providers, including Financial Advisers, are withdrawing their services as advisers where their client is a UK national living in the EU.  It is only a small minority of financial service providers that have taken the necessary steps to establish themselves in the EU so they can continue providing their services. 

It is therefore quite likely that from 2021, most expats living in Spain or other EU countries will not be able to receive advice or services from their UK Financial Adviser.  Clients and advisers alike who are affected by this, should be acting now to make alternative financial arrangements. 

ISA’s are very tax efficient ways to save or invest, as you pay no tax on savings interest, (not that you get any these days), and virtually no tax on investment returns. They are therefore usually the first type of saving or investment account that people will have.  For this reason, and the fact that there is a generous annual allowance to save into them, you like many other may have built up sizeable amounts in ISA’s.

You may also have reached, or be approaching retirement, and relying on this tax efficient ISA nest egg, to provide extra income to supplement your pension.  For some, an ISA may even be their ‘pension’.

ISA’s and moving to Spain

So if you’re moving, or have moved to Spain, can you keep your ISA?  The short answer is yes.  According to gov.uk:

If you open an Individual Savings Account (ISA) in the UK and then move abroad, you can’t put money into it after the tax year that you move (unless you’re a Crown employee working overseas or their spouse or civil partner).

You must tell your ISA provider as soon as you stop being a UK resident.

However, you can keep your ISA open and you’ll still get UK tax relief on money and investments held in it.

You can pay into your ISA again if you return and become a UK resident 

Great – you can keep your ISA, and continue to benefit from it’s tax efficiency!  Well not exactly.  When you move from the UK to Spain, you also move from the UK tax system to Spain’s tax system.  So you will continue to get UK tax relief, however your ISA will (or should), get Spanish tax treatment.

The UK press and expat papers in Spain have all carried articles warning that thousands of Brits living in the EU will have their UK bank accounts closed by the end of the year.

In the UK the The Daily Mail, The Guardian, The Times and The Daily Telegraph to name a few, have all detailed how banks including Lloyds, Barclays and even the Queen’s bankers Coutts, will be closing expat accounts and withdrawing services.  The reason for this is the UK’s failure to agree a post-Brexit trade deal to allow cross border Financial Services to continue.

Banks are having to make decisions as to which EU countries to pull out of and which to continue operating in.

The bank, which is Britain’s biggest banking group, started writing to its customers living in these countries since August, telling them that their UK bank accounts would be shut on December 31.

Barclays also confirmed that its banking and credit-card customers living in the EU had started receiving letters.

Why Are UK Banks Closing Accounts & Withdrawing Services for Brits Living in the EU?

Update – Spanish Residency for British UK Nationals During the Transition Period

The article below was written the UK left the EU under the withdrawal agreement in January 2020.

Under the withdrawal agreement, British Nationals who hold a residency certificate have their rights as an EU citizen secured.  On July 6th 2020, the residency application procedure for British UK nationals, switched for the EU residency certificate to the withdrawal agreement TIE ‘tarjeta de indentidad de extranjeros’. Both the certificate and the new TIE give the holder equal status in terms of protected EU rights under the withdrawal agreement.

Read more about Spanish Residency for British UK Nationals and the Transition Period

Article written 13th April 2019

Earlier this year, the Spanish Government published its ‘No Deal Brexit’ Contingency Plan. The Contingency Plan was approved by Royal Decree 1st March, and affirms that the Spanish residency certificate will be needed to confirm legal residence in Spain. The plan makes provision for those residing in Spain who’ve not obtained their Spanish residency EU registration certificate before Brexit, to obtain residency documentation. However, it makes clear that British nationals in this situation will be treated differently to to those who have obtained their certificate BEFORE the UK leaves the EU.

The Convenio Especial is Social Security scheme which allows individuals who don’t otherwise qualify Spanish state healthcare, to make voluntary social security payments to access the system.

You can apply to register in the Convenio Especial scheme in your region, if you have been resident in Spain for 12 months.

The Convenio Especial social security payment is €60 per month if you are under 65, and €157 for those over 65, and gives you full access to the Spanish state healthcare system.  Pre-existing conditions are covered, however, general pharmaceutical prescriptions, ortho-prosthetics, dietary prescriptions and non-urgent medical transport are not.

What’s required to apply for Healthcare under the Convenio Especial?

You’ll need the following:

• Application form*
• Passport
• NIE, residency certificate or TIE (some places will not accept NIE – only green residency certificate or TIE)
• Padron Certificate
• Proof of non-entitlement to healthcare provided by another country

*Note – each autonomous region has its’s own application form and process.  Below is is a link to the form for the region of Andalucia:

We get asked a lot of questions about schools and the system of education in Spain. A lot these questions are answered in our in Spain mini guides.  Being based in the Costa del Sol, we also often get asked by people moving to or planning to move to the area, about International Schools in Costa del Sol, so we’ve created a list of those that we know.

International Schools Marbella:

The ‘padrón’ is the municipal register of inhabitants.  It records how many people are registered as living in each Town Hall ‘municipality’.  The list is also used by the National Institute of Statistics, the INE, (Instituto Nacional de Estadística de España) to complete a national census every year.  The word ‘padrón’ is an abbreviation of the word ’empadronamiento’ which means census.

The Origin of the ‘Padrón’

The origins of the ‘padrón’ have been traced back by historians to a census conducted in Spain called the `Secretaría de la Balanza´ who put forward the national control of the population – the `Padrón de Calle-Hita’.  Today’s laws regarding the ‘padrón’ stipulate that everybody who resides in Spain should be registered on it.  Part time residents, such as holiday home owners can register voluntarily.

When you register you are given a certificate, (certificado de empadronamiento), which is often required by the authorities as proof of where you live, when you use or apply for public services. The registry entry should therefore also record all the names of all people living at the address, including children, so that they appear on the certificate, as well.

Some examples of things that a padrón certificate is required for are-

Modelo 720 is the form which has to be completed by Spanish residents to declare overseas assets to the Tax Office.  The requirement applies to anyone who lives in Spain, who owns, or is beneficiary to overseas assets worth €50,000 or more.

The Modelo 720 overseas assets reporting requirement, was introduced to clamp down on tax fraud being committed by Spanish residents who have acquired, or intend to acquire, assets, and or hide wealth outside of Spain in order to evade paying tax.  You can read more about this in our article – Overseas Assets Declaration.

The TIE, Tarjeta de Indentidad de Extranjero, is the Spanish identification card for citizens from third countries (non-EU) who reside in Spain.  Since July 2020 British UK nationals moving to Spain have also had to apply for this card, as the UK is no longer in the EU.

If you already have a Spanish residency certificate, you do not have to apply for the TIE, but you can voluntarily exchange your certificate for the card.

Both the Spanish and UK Government websites and their Consulate pages confirm that the green residency certificate, A4 and credit card sized, remain valid for UK nationals and prove the holders residency and retained rights under the withdrawal agreement, having settled in Spain before the UK left the EU.  However considering the issues some have encountered during the recent Covid19 travel restrictions, e.g. multiple incidences of authorities and airlines not understanding the rules and denying certificate holders entry to Spain, it is advisable to get the TIE.

Aside from this the card is a full bio-metric national ID card, therefore so much more useful than the paper certificate.  The card also has the words ARTICULO 50 TUE, a reference to note that the holder was resident in Spain before the end of the transition period and has retained rights.

‘Semana Blanca’ and ‘dia de Andalucia’ (white week and Andalusia day), are a school holiday week in Málaga and a regional holiday in Andalucia.

Semana Blanca

During ‘Semana Blanca’ the majority of the schools are closed for a week to ‘catch up’ with the number of  the number of school days off for public holidays, compared to the rest of Spain.

Every province or region in Spain has their own traditions and festivities for which schools are closed.  Some places have a few less public holidays than others, so to be fair to students in Málaga, they give extra time off in ‘la Semana Blanca’ to balance things out.

Why is it called Semana Blanca?