Life after Brexit in southern Spain: 'I used to travel to England five times a year to visit my children; now I only go once'

Brexit

British residents in Almuñécar and Salobreña on Granada province's Costa Tropical explain the consequences of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU have had on them

MJ Arrebola

Granada

A decade on from the Brexit referendum, the lives of thousands of Britons living in Spain have changed. On Granada province's Costa Tropical the ... British community has been part of the landscape in towns like Almuñécar and Salobreña for decades.

The fallout from Brexit is evident in the queues at the airports, in the paperwork, in the retired parents who can no longer spend the winter with their children and in the people who had to sell their homes in the UK and take early retirement in order to be able to stay and live here.

Although he was born in London, David Darby has been living in Almuñécar for around 16 years and is passionate about the Mediterranean climate that characterises the area.

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    • Hannah, Alison and Lauren in Salobreña. (M. J. A.)

      “To be able to move, I had to sell my house in England,” says Hannah. And bring forward her retirement to the age of 55. “We know many Britons who have had to leave, some because they cannot afford to be out of work for five years and others simply because travelling in and out of the country has become such a headache that it is no longer worth it to them,” they say.

      The light at the end of the tunnel comes after five years. Once that period has elapsed, they are granted permanent residence and can work as normal, just like any other European citizen.

      María del Carmen Martín Orce, the councillor for citizen participation at Almuñécar town hall, explained that among the main social impacts identified in 2026 were greater difficulties in travelling between European countries, an increase in the administrative procedures required for new residencies, the need for specific documentation to prove acquired rights, and challenges relating to the care of older and dependent people within the resident British community.

      The town hall has said it is committed to working alongside international residents and will continue to promote initiatives aimed at providing information, fostering integration and offering administrative support, with a view to facilitating harmonious coexistence and the active participation of all residents in the social, cultural and economic life of the town.