Brexit fury as British expats in Spain clashed: ‘They said they will smash my face in!’ – Daily Express

Travel experts have told of many Britons packing their bags and selling up in Spain due to more stringent immigration rules brought in as a result of the UK leaving the EU. UK citizens can now only visit Spain without a visa for up to three months for tourism and business purposes before having to leave. However, from 2022 British nationals will need a visa waiver to enter Spain, according to rules outlined on the Spanish government website. The new rules will mean that Brits can still visit the country without a visa but will need to hold a valid ETIAS visa waiver before arriving.

It appears that those British expats who have remained in Spain have also come to blows, as shown by The Times' report in March.

Michel Euesden, owner of Euro Weekly, an English language newspaper in southern Spain, said: Removal companies have never been busier. Theres an abundance of people leaving.

We were warning about the consequences of Brexit, but nobody took any notice. Now our lives have changed forever.

Gareth Thomas, a 69-year-old former RAF engineer from Kent, said that he has faced threats over his views on the EU.

He added: I have been threatened with violence.

"I was told if I didnt shut up this person was going to smash my face in.

Brexiteers target people like me because they think if we traitors had kept our mouths shut, it would have been plain sailing and we would have got a better deal from Europe.

Baz Rhodes, a pensioner and paragliding guide who lives in The Balearics, hit out at Leave voters.

He said: They think theyre the best in the world, these little Englanders. The ones who voted for Brexit should keep their gobs shut.

Mark Sampson, a former bar owner and fervent Brexiteer, said: I get Remainers trying to tell me their arguments. Ive had a few shouting at me in bars.

"I am 6ft tall and 20 stone so no ones going to take me on in a fight, but if they want to talk about Brexit, I give them both barrels.

Daphne Vallins, 64, returned from southern Spain to live back at home in Surrey, is blaming the new bureaucracy for the decision.

She said: I did not want to apply for residence status. It would mean paying 100 a month in private health insurance, changing my UK driving licence into a Spanish one and having to pay my taxes in Spain."

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New rules also continue to create difficulty for Britons travelling abroad.

Two weeks ago, a British woman was denied entry to Spain when she could not show a particular passport stamp that is now required post-Brexit.

The woman, known only as Linda, told expat publication The Local that she had been travelling to visit her son, who lives in Spain, from Gibraltar when she was refused entry by border control.

She said: I was denied entry to Spain on September 26 due to my passport not being stamped on exit on a previous one-week visit to Spain, which started on June 4.

The guards initially stamped my passport to enter, then they noticed I had no exit stamp from that one-week visit in June, thereby classing me as an overstayer and subsequently marked the entry stamp with the letter F and two lines.

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Linda added that even though she had evidence she had indeed left the country and returned to the UK in June, Spanish airport officials would not allow entry without the exit stamp.

She continued: Even though I have proof of returning to the UK via banking activity as well as the test and trace Covid app, the border guards would not accept or look at any proof nor let me speak to anyone that could help.

My son, who speaks Spanish, tried to explain that I had other proof of returning to the UK but the guards would not accept or even consider looking at it; they just kept insisting that I had no stamp, that I had overstayed and would be arrested as illegal.

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Brexit fury as British expats in Spain clashed: 'They said they will smash my face in!' - Daily Express