missile

and from the Daily Express >

Majorca, Alicante & Canary Islands hotels face 'very serious' health issue

In recent years, the bed bug population has increased by more than 500 percent in Spain.

spainrico

The Express runs scare stories every day about Spain - Expats leaving en masse, etc etc

rspltd

Unfortunately it seems that those who work for newspapers and the media in some cases no longer do proper reporting but merely search the Internet looking for ‘fill’ stories with no attempt at verification. Nottingham post seems to be one such. The reality seems to be different. I now have practical knowledge of a number of friends and acquaintances who have travelled into Schengen and EU countries and ( in the majority) they have been waived through with no channeling into particular queues and in 90% of cases no passports stamped. Occasionally when they have been stamped into a country no attempt has been made to stamp the out. This includes France, Spain, Greece and Portugal. Should be fun in a year’s time when they go on holiday again or perhaps it will be like this year again and the officialdom won’t be bothered. ‘Brexit the gift that keeps on giving’ - remind me what inflation is in the EU at the moment and have you seen the value of the £ against the €? Oh and 4 * petrol is currently £1.75 a litre. Perhaps the Nottingham post will find something to say on the subject.

spainrico

Yes, the days of real journalism are fading fast - mainly because we all want free news via the internet or freebies which is an unsustainable business model as real journos need paying - so we now have to suffer the sensational factually incorrect stories that most are now publishing. Some of the virtually incoherent rubbish written about Spain (when we here know the facts and situation on the ground) by the popular UK press is incredible. All part of the Brexit subterfuge of course.

Can't believe some of the forecast UK energy bills along with council tax bills, so happy I live here by Iberdrola bills and IBI are very reasonable.

Jon-Bxl

I think everyone knows that all this is a consequence of leaving the EU. It's only recently that Spain have made it public that they may request these entry documents to allow entry. Google the subject and you will see pages of info. Many of which are from respected members of the press. Like the Euronews address in the OP.

Many dated in the near past. I heard about it on a few of the big news-TV outlets just a few days ago.

Its GOOD that the authorities are saying this to prewarn travellers. Its GOOD that the press have also alerted travelers to this recently. 'Forewarned is forearmed'. There has been quite a large negative reaction to this, publicly - prompting the authorities' comments in the OP's PS section.

Of course its for all of Schengen, theoretically, but Spain seems to be making it clear that it is part of their practice.

Clearly many people didn't know about this.... Now they do, like it or not. (One may think that the rules themselves are bad, but until changed.........)

Sure there is bad press out there, but in this case most of them got it right.

FCDO advice confirms all this:
Spanish Ministry of the interior confirms all this:

Including the non-acceptance of online printouts (actually my big moan!!)

One thing I didn't add is the need of a 'letter of invitation' if visiting family and friends. All below.

The chances are that we won't be stopped... Or worse face a 'jobsworth' who wants all the details perfectly presented!!

'You pays your money and takes your choice': If you do get stopped... You cant really bitch about it, especially if you don't have the right papers. 'Things have changed, its a new world'

Just as you cant bitch if you go to (say) another continent and don't have the right documents.

Jon
Scroll through these if interested

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-ad...y-requirements
https://www.interior.gob.es/opencms/...nes/index.html

https://www.interior.gob.es/opencms/...de-invitacion/

Ronnyone

If you ever watch the Border Control TV programmes for places like Australia you see it is common practice to do spot checks on folk where they ask for proof of funds. Its been happening for decades. My friends daughter was refused entry to USA about 5 years ago for lack of funds for a month holiday

SanNico

4*? Don't forget the Spanish forecourt price is before the 20c per litre discount at the checkout so Spanish fuel is actually cheaper than UK fuel

UKMS

With respect you are living in the dark ages if you think that immigration authorities (in whatever country) rely on passport stamps to track movement in and out of a country. Airline/ferry booking systems or intrinsically linked with immigration. I know someone will cite road border crossings as being less secure and there will always be those that slip the net, but for the majority of brits travelling to and fro by air the Spanish will
know exactly who has been where and when. Whether they choose to dig into the available data is another matter. But it’s there if they want it.

missile

Press has always been sensational. I know when I read an article or listen to BBC news on a subject where I have first hand knowledge, it usually seems inaccurate & poorly researched. When I read an article / listen to news a subject I know little about, why should I believe it?

However, I would agree it does seems to be getting worse.

I can't believe how much these celebrities get paid >..... and how much of an increase did Nurses, Posties, Bus & Train Drivers get?
I am very pleased that I no longer pay for a TV license :-)

spainrico

Don't worry folks TUI have cleared the whole thing up (!)

https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/air/...in-entry-rules

growinspain

Welcome to becoming a 3rd country national... Many other nationalities have been doing this for ages...It is not a new rule...

Although, in 1998 I flew into Brussels, one way ticket, from JFK... Long hair, leather jacket, army duffel bag... Straight thru...

Went back for a legal matter and in Barcelona airport the rifle holding gardia asked me why did i stay so long - all I said was I was leaving now and he waved me on..

Cheapest flight back was into London; same hair and jacket, etc... Totally searched, 2 cartons of cigarettes - only 1 allowed; dude I am not going to sell them, they are so expensive here and it takes $2 for 1£.... They let me have the 2nd carton. I sold them in the hotel and bought my rolling tobacco and bus ticket to Amsterdam ...

Flew out of Nice to Argentina - forgot I had a bag of marijuana seeds in the backpack (seeds are legal there - growing not so)... 4 days without luggage, every time I walked the street got searched as I was smoking rolling cigarettes.. Who smokes rollies when a pack of regular cigarettes are 1$ a pack... Flew back into Nice after 6 months... no visa or return ticket to the USA.. Searched again... The only thing she was worried about was my mini mag lite... Explained it is a flash lite I use when camping or entering a hotel room with other people sleeping...

This was all before 9/11 and before I had my french passport (thru marriage) .... 9/11 changed flying a lot...

the carta de invitacion is now in force for people from the island (uk) and without it you can be turned back...

Red Eric

Precisely.

No rule changes at all on the Spanish side. Status change for UK citizens meaning different already-existing rules apply to us.

I'm glad we've finally reached a concensus on here. Perhaps we should invite Jacob Rees-Mogg in for a chat.

Bomber Harris

Credit where credit is due.
The OP was correct in one aspect regarding "changes".
In January 2022 the daily amount required for entry to Spain was changed to €100 from the previous €90.

VEDShappy

Jon-Bxl

Precisely. As you can see all this created a lot of concerns, (as I mentioned) and many, many people were unaware of these entry requirements... To the point that TUI could even see business dropping. The first line of the article says it all. On a breakfast news program, they read out an email from someone who questioned going to Spain.

But everyone who has read this thread and the press output - most of which has been correct - now are aware of this new situation post Brexit vs previously and can decide what level of risk they wish to take. They have all the info they need e.g the official links in my last post and others

My concern remains that printouts from online banking and even bank letters are technically not acceptable... Which I think is crazy!

Jon