Perfectly explained.
I reckon the UK must be the place to live !

Yes I meant "my mistake". Got the "my bad" from the Americans

Is it still the case that UK nationals coming to live in Spain have to have a work contract, or a substantial savings account, or proof of a self sufficient regular income ?

Non of which are a necessity for an EU national coming to England.

Yes, it is true plus they need proof of adequate health cover.

This is based on EU residency law so it also applies in the UK. However the UK government chooses not to implement it as it is optional.

I suppose it's not surprising bearing in mind that they could have prevented all the eastern Europeans from coming to the UK for a number of years when they first joined the EU, but they chose not to implement that either.

Hmm, still seems to be the case:https://www.gov.uk/guidance/residenc...ments-in-spain


Under the new rules, EU citizens applying for residency in Spain may be required to produce evidence of sufficient financial means to support themselves (and dependants). Applicants may also be asked for proof of private or public healthcare insurance. More details about the application process and documentation you need are available on the website of the Spanish Ministry for Work and Social Security.

You are right and the UK could have stopped it from the start. All this talk about leaving the EU could have been avoided.

So I presume the UK would no longer allowed to implement it, which is why they're in their present fix ?

Still seems to be a form of discrimination to me.

The health/financial rules do apply in the UK now and they can use them if they chose to do so for any individual.

The real problem is that they choose not to require registration of EU foreigners after 90 days, which the Spanish do. If they did have a registration process, that would exclude anyone who did not meet those requirements.

They could introduce a registration process, but as I said, they have chosen not to, but it could be introduced at any time.

It's not discrimination, because it's for all EU Citizens. A Spanish person born in Spain doesn't have to apply for residency.
On 10 July 2012 the Spanish government introduced details of the new residency requirements for all EU citizens, including British nationals.Under the new rules, EU citizens applying for residency in Spain may be required to produce evidence of sufficient financial means to support themselves (and dependants)

Such conditions seem to have been the case for 25 years that I'm aware of, so what's changed ?

Seems crazy to me that the UK doesn't implement such a regulation if they're allowed to.

Surely that would sort out the present impasse and those coming into the country with adequate means of support would have no need or would not be allowed to claim benefits.

I reckon not that much. They've probably just changed the wording and added a few more points.

Much like our current so called EU renegotiations then.

What is an issue is the alleged £56 million that the UK is providing to Eu citizens - mostly poles it has to be said - who are claiming child benefit and sending it back to Poland and their children have never been near the UK. No wonder they are some of the members who don't want the gravy train to end. On the sImilar theme we are in Fuertevdentura at the moment - fantastic roads joining small settlements and most of them constructed a few years after Spain joined the EU. Guess who paid for them??

To be fair, it's not only Polish and you'll find enough lazy Brits too. It is a problem though and we had/have a similar problem in Ireland. I know someone who worked for social welfare and he said at one point people were standing outside with suitcases. They weren't even living in the country and just came to collect money.