quixote

Hi All

I'm new here and I've been reading through the forum as the idea of moving to Spain has been taking form in my mind over the past few weeks. I've been very impressed with the help given on the forum so far so I'm hopeful that someone can answer this query.

I'm interested in settling in Spain in the long term, and would like to take advantage of the transition period to get residence rights on the same basis as an EU citizen. However, I'll have a lot to sort out and some of it will need to be done next year. That means I will need to be away from Spain for quite a bit of time next year. So my question is:I have seen here and there claims that 6 months of absence will mean the residency lapses. However, I've not found very clear statements of how this is counted anywhere. My impression is that that means six months in any calendar year, distributed in any way through the calendar year. But perhaps the things I've seen are mixed up with residency for tax purposes, which I know is a different question.

I haven't been able to find any official guidance on this. If anyone knows where I can find the relevant law or norma and can point me to it that would be very helpful. It's fine if it's in Spanish, in fact I would prefer the original.

Many thanks in advance for any help!

I don't know where I would end up yet -- possibilities are Madrid and Navarra for work, Andalucia for friends.

quixote

I found this, which nearly answers the question, but it's a little vague and I'd like the confidence of being able to see the original regulation.

As I'm new I don't have the right to post urls yet -- perhaps this will work, just needs putting back together again:

www.citizensadvice.org.es/ faq/can-i-lose-my-right-to-residency-in-spain-eu-and-noneu/

quixote

(just remove the space before 'faq')

Loafing Along

Have a look at this article - gives the various time periods related to length of absence.

https://www.lamarconsultoria.es/cuan...de-residencia/

quixote

Thanks! That's what I was looking for. Especially this:

Which is not what I wanted to hear as it's a stricter interpretation than one based on calendar years, but is reasonable, I suppose.

I'd still like to see the actual regulation if anyone knows where that is. This articule confirms that it's vague, but doesn't point to it.

Thanks again

Loafing Along

All controlled by Ministry of Interior so dig around this link :
Estancia y residencia - Ministerio del Interior

quixote

Excellent, thanks very much.

I see that, as the previous page explained, things are not very clear at the source.

I suppose there's a further complication from next year, which is probably not entertained in the current regulations. Namely, that UK citizens with grandfathered EU citizen residency rights will have to go through immigration control, have passports stamped etc., so will generate evidence about absences that would rarely have arisen until now (they would have arisen e.g. in the case of non-Spanish EU resident leaving Spain to work in a third country for which they receive entry and exit stamps).