Lou71

Good for you, I'm very pleased to hear it. Spain is not some miserable place where people are constantly hounded by the authorities and asked to present forms at police stations. It is assumed checks are made at external borders.

I'm Irish now luckily but my partner is still British, resident in Portugal but spends loads of time in Spain completely unhindered.

Some people seem to go out of their way to create barriers, borders and restrictions.

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Bomber Harris

Agreed, those people being the legislators in each Schengen state that decided to write such a requirement for for third country citizens to report their entry into their national law.

GrahamF

Well, it seems we don't have to fill in and register a Declaration of Entry, according to the Spanish Embassy in Lisbon. My question to them -
Hi,
I am a UK citizen and have permanent residence in Portugal.
Living on the Algarve, in common with many other residents, we regularly cross the Guadiana to Ayamonte by road and also travel into Spain by boat.
This document has recently been brought to my attention - DECLARACIÓN DE ENTRADA EN TERRITORIO ESPAÑOL (RD 557/2011)
Are we expected to report our entry every time we visit Spain from Portugal, maybe several times in a week?
Regards,

Their reply this morning-
En respuesta a su consulta le informamos que para viajar a España desde Portugal deberá disponer de una tarjeta de residencia que se encuentre vigente expedida por las Autoridades Portuguesas y de un pasaporte que tenga una validez mínima de 3 meses posteriores a la fecha prevista de salida del territorio.

In response to your query, we inform you that to travel to Spain from Portugal you must have a valid residence card issued by the Portuguese Authorities and a passport that is valid for at least 3 months after the expected date of departure from the territory.

Ferretofthemata

"disponer" could mean "provide", so it's "provide a passport", not "have a passport". Sorry to add more confusion but is there 100% confirmation that no action is needed?
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GrahamF

Blame Google translate. You know as much as I do - they have stated what's required to enter Spain, passport and residence card.

Bomber Harris

Interesting.

If we accept the answer the consulate gave you is correct it raises the question why does their response contradict what is written in Articles 12, 13 and 14 of Real Decreto 557/2011?

And the further questions of;
If the requirement under those legal Articles are no longer valid, why are they not showing as revoked on the Spanish Gvt legal database, and why hasn't the Spanish Gvt complied with their obligation under Article 7 of Regulation (EC) 562/2006 to notify the EU Parliament that their requirement to declare entry under Article 21 of 562/2006 is no longer valid?

Ferretofthemata

Wouldn't be a huge surprise if it turned out there's a rule but everyone's agreeing to ignore it. But would be nice to at least know that if it's the case.

GrahamF

I wish I had definitive answer but only know what I've published. Before contacting the embassy, I contacted Europe Direct with exactly the same question. Their reply says it's up to individual countries to make up their own rules -Thank you for contacting the Europe Direct Contact Centre.

Based on the information you provided, we would like to inform you that reporting presence falls under the competence of Spanish national authorities. In line with all said above, we invite you to contact the Spanish embassy in Portugal:

Spanish embassy requested copies of my passport and residence card before they would answer the question, which leaves me thinking that possibly those of us with residence in EU have the right of entry (free movement?) unlike non-resident third country citizens.

Ferretofthemata

Going back to the meaning of disponer, I think in this context it means "be in the possession of", so maybe I've caused doubt when none exists


Although it could also mean "must make available", which is vague again.

GrahamF

Oh well, we all know what they mean. You may like to translate their final sentence, which I didn't include as it hasn't any direct bearing on the entry question but, may serve as warning to others who, like me, only have the old residence document - Para evitar tener problemas con las autoridades españolas le recomendamos no se desplace a España hasta no contar con el permiso de residencia portugués.

1Steve

Para evitar tener problemas con las autoridades españolas le recomendamos no se desplace a España hasta no contar con el permiso de residencia portugués.

It says "To avoid problems with the Spanish authorities we recommend that you do not travel into Spain unless you have the Portuguese residence permit"

Gyges

Do UK nationals with Portuguese residency and a Portuguese driving licence need an International Driving licence to drive in Spain and France ?

Red Eric

No, they don't.