soomerlust

I am now retired 65 and am considering a move to spain. What I am looking for is a quiet location with good services and a reasonable active expat community. At the moment I have no idea where to start looking. Preferably I need somewhere with some ground for the dog, after that my preferences are open.

At the moment I have permanent residency in The Netherlands which I will maintain or I might take up a Dutch Passport so I have options to get around the 90 Rule.

Initially I think short term rental is the best option.

I would appreciate any tips and advice from expats on how to move forward with this move.

tebo53

Hi,

If you have an EU passport it makes it simple to move over to live here in Spain. However, an EU passport does not exempt you entirely from the 90 day rule.
If you decide to move to Spain permanently you will need to sign on the foreigners register within the first 90 days of arrival at the Local Police station and have proof of income and healthcare.

I personally cannot recommend areas you may like but I suggest that you have an extended holiday in the places you may already be considering.

All the best,

Steve

Listen Very Carefully

Perhaps you could be a bit more explicit? You say you are considering a move to Spain but then say you are going to maintain permanent residence in Netherlands-so are you looking for a holiday home or a permanent move? Either way Spanish bureaucracy will kick in .If a permanent move then getting a Dutch passport is a good idea if you can

Casa Santo Estevo

welcome to the forum.
I do not know if Brits who moved to the EU before the WA can move as in the old days. it looks as if you will have to apply for a visa to stay long term in Spain.
This is what the EU say about non-EU citizen already staying in one EU country.
There are accordion sections which expand on the information you are seeking.
https://immigration-portal.ec.europa.../already-eu_en
And this one states
https://ukandeu.ac.uk/explainers/uk-...-need-to-know/
This is what The Local, an English online, newspaper says.
https://archive.ph/712se
These are just 3 examples there are more.
Becoming a Dutch national will take time. The only time limit stated in the programme to apply to become a Dutch National is that the IND can take up to 12 months to make a decision on your application. You still not become a Dutch national there are few more things one has to do. I suppose the rest of the time scale will depend on your situation.

missile

Having permanent residence & a home in Netherlands you could avoid customs checks and split your time however you like as do many of my Dutch & German friends.

tdrinker

If you're able to get a Dutch passport I'd recommend this regardless of your current plans to move to Spain, as it gives you flexibility and options for the future.

Barriej

Yep we have French friends who do the same.

And somewhere I was reading a couple of weeks ago said it was estimated that 60% of the Scandinavians living in Alfaz and Albir have never bothered with residency and just flit back to their own countries occasionally.
So someone from Holland could get here within two days driving and basically spend as long here as they want (even if a Brit with permanent residency in Holland) who's ever going to know????

Moses2013

Doesn't that always come up, at the end of the day your car is uninsured, you have no healthcare etc. Many get away with it, but these days it's easy to see with banking, electricity usage, cameras etc.

tdrinker

Fine until something goes wrong - car accident, speeding ticket, health incident, etc. Also, as mentioned above, tracking technology is improving. Amongst other potential costs and pitfalls could be a tax bill if, depending on how much time you spend where, you have established tax residency. I wouldn't want to live like this as I'd be forever looking over my shoulder, but others are of a less nervous disposition.

Lou71

​​​​​​
Not really. As far as the EU is concerned, freedom of movement is God and they are not going after EU nationals supposedly overstaying in other EU states. It is not a priority for them and they are not going to be pursuing them. However, they are going after non EU, third country nationals who overstay in the Schengen zone and said people will be caught via the impending EES system.

Moses2013

No, you are wrong. Your insurance company or medical provider doesn't care if you are an EU citizen or not, just like the tax office also doesn't make a difference if you are Spanish, Chinese etc. You are using a service you are not entitled to and that's fraud.

Casa Santo Estevo

Keeping a property in Spain living here longer than 90 days permitted is that not against the law?
When others wanted to live in Spain, keep the car on British plates. Not have any health expect EHIC and pay no taxes. Was it not discouraged in the past by this forum?

Moses2013

Spain’s Agencia Tributaria on Monday February 27th announced that it wants to “intensify its control on residents who artificially reduce their fiscal bill by using the non-resident tax”.

Spain considers its resident population to be tax residents if they spend more than 183 days in Spain, their main economic interests are in Spain and their spouse and/or children live in Spain.
According to Hacienda, as Spain’s tax agency is also known, the focus will be on residents in Spain who meet this criteria and should therefore pay IRPF that applies to all their worldwide income, but instead file their taxes using the more favourable IRNR non-resident tax which applies only to income made in Spain.

Non-resident tax (IRNR) is generally 24 percent whereas IRPF income tax is progressive based on earnings and can go up to 47 percent.

José María Mollinedo, general secretary of the Spanish Tax Technicians Union (Gestha), told 20minutos that these ‘fake non-residents’ usually have a high income and live in Spain with their families.

Lou71

I've heard all that before, they have been saying it for years. They also mention that tax residency kicks in after 183 days which is how it's always been.

There is one precedent in Portugal where a high wealth individual was challenged and forced to take residency in Portugal. Perhaps there are similar precedents in Spain? Or a case where EU nationals have been prosecuted for overstaying?

Nobody is a actively sniffing around trying to catch (for example) Dutch nationals staying in Spain for more than 90 days and they are free to come and go as they wish.

No amount of wishful thinking about EU nationals being penalised for overstaying in other EU states is going to take the sting out of Brexit and the loss of EU freedom of movement.

Ultimately, the aim is to make the external Schengen border like a ring of steel and to make internal Schengen borders virtually non existent.

Moses2013

I don't think you understand, if you have car insurance in the Netherlands it's not valid when you are living in Spain, same goes with everything else.
When you are not paying the correct taxes, somebody will eventually sniff around.