Are you med guys happy

It had to happen (again) but 1/3 of a year away from the boat (40 miles away) not really happy

Edit:
My answer was re lockdown perhaps as LJS the question was re brexit :oops: I should read the thread title......................
 
Last edited:
No. But as non live aboards it only marginally affects us at the moment.
in addition I have friends who have just this week completed the sale of their boat. They had planned to spend the next 5 years or more living aboard, as they have done for the past 7 years or so. But the 90/180 day just wouldn’t work for them. I have another good friend who is in the same position and now plans to bring the boat back to the UK.
For both of them the VAT implications have also played a large part in their decisions.
 
No, the 90 in 180 rule is an annoying problem. In future we will probably have to pay big annual visa fees and expensive health insurance.
I never had any plans to bring the boat back to UK, but that choice has now gone as my boat is Spanish VAT paid.
 
Last edited:
As far as living here goes, no I’m good. It’s a beautiful sunny (cold) day and we’re off for a drive to St Tropez. So can’t complain. Same boaty wise. Like everyone the biggest fly in the ointment is covid. We’ve lost many a good day, and what’s worse is we cancelled our winter mooring in our local port. This means that we stay in our permanent place which is in a river. So a day like today which I’d normally boat, we have to wait a couple of days because the recent rain makes it unsafe to navigate.
Today I had my first taste of Brexit when I went to order off eBay etc. It’s all getting a bit expensive and, for example, John Lewis said they aren’t delivering overseas anymore.
I think we need to see a post covid world to really judge the situation fairly
 
The Welsh Med is fairing no better. Despite Roy's boat only being a short walk distance I cant even pillage that without reasonable excuse. Well, not one the police will accept. My own boat languishes in the middle of the river and if I hitch the tender to the back of the Land Rover would probably eclipse OJ Simpson in the chase down the A55. Things really have got rather dire.
 
Not happy at all. I cannot enter Spain ( or as far as I know most other countries), even if I could the govt has said I can't leave!

Covid in the UK is bad, and given we are now 3rd country status it is unclear what will happen next. Even ignoring the new strain we were unlikely to be welcome. I am assuming I won't get there until the summer at the earliest. Spain will most likely conceded in the end given the tourist impact on their economy, but will anyone want to go? On top go your holiday you will have a COVID test to enter Spain, most likely per the news a COVID test to return ( which will be hard to find in many tourist places) and a COVID test after 5 days to be released. So Assuming £120 a pop that Is £360 a head on tests alone. £1440 for a family of 4. Who will pay it? I suspect almost no one.

Given Brexit and VAT I am also unable to bring my boat back to the UK without paying VAT on something that is already UK VAT paid. I have no real desire to have a boat in the UK, but for the £15k it would cost to return in compared to the Spanish marina fees ignoring VAT it would be something to consider.

Then finally when I can go I am limited to 90 in 180 unless I buy a Villa for E500k and get a golden visa - which I may end up doing.

So overall it is a total mess.
 
Hard for me to tell right now. I wont exceed the 90 in 180 whilst the kids are still at school but I'm not sure when we'll get there - I have flights booked for Easter, but prepared for them to be be cancelled. I do send a lot of things out to the boat, so it will be interesting to see if that's OK with the trade deal. I 'm sure I will have to fill in some forms, but I'm OK with that. I was worried that without any sort of deal then I'd be 'smuggling' oil filters to France :D (and wine back!). As far as Covid goes, I feel like I'm just rolling with it as I accept there's sod all I can do about it... I'm not cut out to be a school teacher, but hey ho!
 
The trade deal covers duty not VAT - so I think there will be issues. If you send something then they will put VAT on top of its value. The way round it with new goods is to get them sent direct to the marina so they are only taxed once.

However that nice second hand radar you bought on eBay will get clobbered if found in your bag ---- and at Palma they are no apparently searching bags - but they are returning brit residents so they can assume rich pickings I suppose!
 
jrudge said:
...
Then finally when I can go I am limited to 90 in 180 unless I buy a Villa for E500k and get a golden visa - which I may end up doing.
Click to expand...

Is that an option? We sold our place in Spain a few years ago (2016) and were planning to buy again maybe in 3-5 years time. No-one can predict what will or will not be an option then I suppose but I'd love to be able to realise the lifelong held desire to retire to the Med. Loking a bit improbable at the moment.
 
There's clearly a lot I need to learn J! So if I'm taking something I own to France to put on my boat, which is UK not FR flagged, with zero commercial transition, are you saying that I'm liable to pay VAT? Same if they are my pre-purchased underpants or used radar?
 
We are planning to buy a boat in France to keep in the South of France as soon as Covid allows.
Brexit has not put us off.
Don't really know if the 90/180 thing will affect us till we do it but a VISA seems to be the way out of that if needed.
So the answer to the question is hopefully we can live with it.
 
Moving boats between the UK and the EU has become a lot more hassle and more expensive. We don't have freedom of movement any more so that restricts our ability to live in the EU. It will also become a lot harder to work in the EU if anyone wanted to do some casual work in their retirement.

So, not particularly happy.
 
The golden visa is real as long as you are a non EU resident which we now are. You can borrow but your cash input must be E500k - so buy for E1m and borrow e400k is fine. Buy for E500k and borrow E100k is not.

I have also written to the Spanish embassy. They have something called a non economic visa ( live but don't work) but they said that would NOT allow me to spend more than 90 in 180 AND to not become fiscally resident. I dont wish to be fiscally resident as

a. I have no desire to spend more than 6 months a year there - my kids are here
b. they have a wealth tax on global assets which would impact me and I suspect many on here.

My enquiry was what visa can I get that will allow me to spend 4 months on the trot in Spain. The answer was there is not one.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top