Covid entry restrictions lifted

all covid checks gone from 21'st October. UK government website.

Just had my fourth jab in the UK 🇬🇧...apparently the Spanish want to boost tourism especially from the UK by dropping the Covid entry requirements...it might be a good idea to reciprocate with the UK on entry  requirements..a Spanish citizen can go to the UK for 180 continues day's in any 365 day period yet a UK citizen can only spend 90 days continues in any 180 day period in Spain to get the UK🇬🇧 swallows back spending..the Spanish government has the power to change this but hasn't as of yet.

Please explain how Spain can change the rule as it's a Schengen rule. The only way to get around it would be to leave Schengen and they certainly aren't going to do that. The 90 in 180 days rule is not a Spanish ruling but a Schengen one.

It was rumoured that Portugal tried to change this but it hasn't been able to do so. 90 in 180 still applies there as well.

Not disagreeing that the rule should change, especially for those who own property here, but Spain does not have the means to do it unilaterally. 

Mariedav...personally i don't think lifting the Covid entry requirements will help the situation with the lack of Brits in Spain...i am a holiday home  owner as you know...my villa is on a gated community....pre withdrawal  my community of 160 properties was always buzzing  with  British home owners ...most  have sold on now i know of only 3 including myself that's are owned by British....and I can see this happening all over  the Costas...this is also plain to see when we go out for a evening and we are the only British at the venue. ...myself and my wife have come to the conclusion that Spain ...after 17 year of  holiday home ownership might not be for us..anymore. 

Hmm. Must be different places. Our community is buzzing with Brits at  the moment and has been for months. Never seen it so busy at this time of year. Looking at local papers, the Spanish ones, Airport is at a record for planes coming from UK. More houses have been sold in the Alicante province this year since 2016 which, again, was a record and 60% of those properties have been sold to foreigners and over 60% of those to Brits.

All the bars and restaurants are still busy and many Brits. With these warm evenings they are full outside at night as well which is very unusual. Local bar the other night after we'd been for a meal and it was difficult to get a table. Obviously lots of holidaymakers and holiday home owners. Informacion today reports that many people are buying for investments which hasn't been done for a long time. Mainly because the cost of a mortgage is cheaper than rent but, of course, if the ECB raises interest rates again that may not hold true.

All the towns around us are seeing a rise in sales. New houses in Quesada have gone up like it was in the 2000s and all seem to be sold very quickly and off plan at that. Rojales, Algorfa etc again all showing a big rise in sales.

Must admit, we did go for a meal at Playa Flamenca area and it was quite quiet. Maybe the area.

In our community there have been 5 houses sold this year and quite quickly. A Norwegian family, a Dutch family, one Brit singly and 2 Icelandics have gone. All 5 houses have been bought by Brits. Only one that's not been sold has been a very nice house but the owners are asking far too much for it. About 50k more than similar properties which have sold.

I still agree with you that a dual agreement on the 90/180 rule with UK would be a good thing but still can't see how Spain can do that unilaterally as it's a Schengen rule. 

Mariedav..I admire your enthusiasm ...when talking up Spain  but I think you will find ..if you bother to look beyond Quesada which is virtually a clone of Camposol built in land under the umbrella of companies run by the MASA Group..with identical properties  and built predominantly and heavily marketed to the British ...You will find that what I am saying is correct..with British buyers in Spain at a all time low according to the Olive press  and other articles ...Brits have virtually stopped buying in Spain ...this is also plain to see if you own  a property like myself on the coastal area's along the Costas..I also see many building sites around but anyone that buys off plan in Spain ( needs their  head looking at ) ...if you do eventually get the keys to what you could have bought key ready ...it will be many years before the complete site is finished...even in the highly desirable parts of the Costas it takes many years  to complete a site ...assuming that the Builder's dont go in to Bankruptcy protection before completion...which is extremely common in Spain  hence the old saying never buy off  plan in Spain...anyway only time will tell the future story so let's give it around 3 years and see if I am right  or wrong. 

I can only speak of the area I have property in, Punta Prima, had 3 houses, sold one in no time at all, I have never agreed with buying of plan, a loverly picture of what a place would look like isn't for me, but I know many do and still would do.

I cant relate to no brits about either, we have a restaurant that we like run by a German couple, Mrs B is German, see the connection, Brits, Spanish, Dutch, you name it they come in to eat, we often have a breakfast their, again many different nationalities, the supermarkets you hear many different talks, the main property we use for holiday has a great mixture of people, some live 24/7 some like us.

Never had any problems with bumping into other brits, these buggers are everywhere.

Never ever had the feeling of being alone either, summer or winter, in fact the many times we have been in Spain at Christmas has been one of the best times ever, in a Chinese restaurant one Christmas Eve (La Siesta roundabout)  having a real good jolly up even some Spanish people joined in, and if they didn't like us Brits they certainly never showed it.

Sure property is all over the place, it always has been and always will be, look at England right now, months back put a house up for sale Friday, sold over the weekend, now I see great houses at decent prices up for sale for months.

I can speak Spanish yet when I start speaking this most Spaniards talk back to us / me in English, guess it's the look of me.

Could go on about Spain for ages but no point as it's always 'Horse's for Course's' but I do know one thing for sure, don't like it, shut up and get out.

Baz1946..my second home is in Los Balcones i call it that as i spend 6 months out of the year in Los Balcones..I can walk to Punta Prima in 10 minutes...I frequent places likes tha Abbey  / Marco Polo music  bar and a the restaurants like the Bridge Irish Bar along that strip ...and beleave me it's getting rare to hear a British accent...even the waiter's that we speak to are commenting on this ...like you myself  and my wife after spending 17 years  in Spain  both speak Spanish...which I think is a must as soon as you venture away from the Costas...as you said property on established urbanisations tends to go pretty fast ..especially on my gated community but its not the British that are buying the last 4 that sold was sold to 1 Irish  / 1 Belgium  / 2 Norwegians...as you say its  good to have a mixture  ...it's  just unfortunate that this mixture does not exclude many British...but it's  early days yet with Brussels still trying to get over the bloody nose 5th richest country in the world (UK) leaving the EU gave them...personally  I blame the EU for not listening to the British people's concerns which brought on the Brexit...only time will tell when the EU finally realise the difference freedom of movement to visit another  member states country which is a good thing...uncontrolled freedom of movement is a bad thing...if they sort this out then the UK 🇬🇧 would definitely rejoin the EU.

Olive Press? Informcion, ABC Alicante, Healthplan Spain don't agree. They say 40% of all property sales in the Alicante province this year have been the Brits. Indeed, those properties of over €500,000 have shown an increase of 141% which could be to do with the golden visa. But other properties have seen a 26% increase in sales to Brits this year in the Alicante province. I suppose it depends on your reading material.

And Quesada like Camposol? Hardly. We actually have bars, restaurants and supermarkets (8 big ones within 3 miles of us and many bars and restaurants in walking distance even for old sods like us.

New properties are selling like hot cakes to the Scandinavians and other N Europeans and every nationality seems to be buying. I live in a block of 8. All currently occupied, 4 by permanent Brit residents and one Norwegian. Of the other 4 we have one owned by Irish and currently being rented for holidays, 1 owned by Brit and currently being rented by Brits, another owned by Dutch but currenly being rented by Brits and just one empty which is owned by Russians who have an embargo on them. 

Idealista reports that sales in the Alicante province are way up on several years ago with (in order of most purchases) Brits, German, French, Moroccans, Swedish. 

Torrevieja appears to have lost its appeal and many are now buying in and around Alicante itself. Gran Alacant with a rise of some 40% of buyers since 2 years ago, for example.

We originally bought just outside Villamartin and to hear a non Brit was highly unusual. Then Los Altos (which had a good bus service but nothing else) and, again, nothing but Brits. Now, in Quesada, you hear every language under the sun but, yes, the Brits do predominate although the Scandinavians seem to be catching up very rapidly.

Mariedav...I am almost lost for word's reading your last post you clearly haven't been to Camposol lately which is a carbon copy of Quesada including the dominant British population   i had a large 3 bed 3 bathroom Detached Neptuno delux with a 10mtr x 4mtr pool on Camposol  for 14 years.. Camposol has many   shops bars and restaurants/ community centre  a large supermarket  / Banks / a four star hotel/18 hole golf course  with club house / a health centre /post office and to top that lot off a new school  that's under construction..i have been  to Quesada many times  and i must be missing something...as for the rest of your post .I really don't know where you are getting your information from  surly not the same Olive press and the likes that I get my information from...it's hardly surprising that a health insurance company would say that sales are up 40% due to the British...when you take into consideration that the British need private health care cover to stay in Spain currently the only British that dont need private health insurance are British OAPs which the UK tax payer's pay a hefty €4,500 pr person to the Spanish government for health care ..due to being classed a a third country by the EU.infact whilst the UK was full member the UKgovernmentstill paid the Spanishgovernment for UK🇬🇧OAPs in Spain...EU citizens as you know don't require private Health insurance.