Travel to the EU after January 1st

Or if you really want to spend more than 90 days in a row in Spain just get a Visa!!
Surely no more expensive than a return ferry ride or two?

Nowhere near as simple as that - complicated and expensive procedure, involving many documents, all translated into Spanish and applied for in person at the Spanish Consulate in your home country before you leave - and it is by no means certain that they will accept tourism as a valid reason.
 
What about a Shengan Visa take your pick of language. How about Lithuanian.
 
Europe and EU are as we know NOT exactly the same.
Schengen countries different again..(Switzerland and Norway to name 2 with differing status)
As EU citizens "Freedom of movement" overode Schengen..Hence no 90 day limit etc
Despite the recent deal on 1st January EU rules do not apply to UK citizens
AND Schengen rules apply. Those UK citizens with residency status in any Schengen Country have no limit.
My suggestion of Romania Albania etc were intended to extend a 3 month summer trip
Even Southern Turkey is cold and others are very cold .
Morocco is not too cold and mainly sunny and dry ..so say 1 month would allow a 4 month trip to mainly Spain.
Suggestions for extra either a Schengen extended visa or "fiddling residence" (say on a campsite in Spain or Portugal) are in my opinion unviable for most.
I doubt that any countries will either break ranks or turn blind eyes
Whether in summer or winter extended stays in any of the non Schengen countries are not really desirable (again IMO only)

For summer I think Croatia might be viable but not ideal. You could do July and August in say France, Italy, Austria, Slovenia and then go into Croatia for the backend before slowly travelling back in October. Or you could do Spring in Croatia (Long drive) and then the bulk of your 90 days in Schengen over summer. Its the only one for summer that is kind of handy(ish). Not ideal though really.

The other option I might have considered is the French Visa but it sounds a right carry on and expensive with no Guarantee of success at the end of it all. Its a flipping disaster for long term motorhoming. :(
 
For summer I think Croatia might be viable but not ideal. You could do July and August in say France, Italy, Austria, Slovenia and then go into Croatia for the backend before slowly travelling back in October. Or you could do Spring in Croatia (Long drive) and then the bulk of your 90 days in Schengen over summer. Its the only one for summer that is kind of handy(ish). Not ideal though really.

The other option I might have considered is the French Visa but it sounds a right carry on and expensive with no Guarantee of success at the end of it all. Its a flipping disaster for long term motorhoming. :(

This 90 day ruling thingamabob surely only applies to those who are lucky enough to have enough leisure time (and money) to spend such long periods of time overseas? i.e. retirees or rich b-stewards who don't have to work... 😁 ;)
 
This 90 day ruling thingamabob surely only applies to those who are lucky enough to have enough leisure time (and money) to spend such long periods of time overseas? i.e. retirees or rich b-stewards who don't have to work... 😁 ;)
Well, we might qualify for most of those insults but we are certainly not rich. One of the reasons we all do this is that it is cheaper to live long-term in a motorhome in Spain than it is to live in a house in England :)
 
A quick trip to Lithuania then anywhere in Shengan. No border checks.???
 
This 90 day ruling thingamabob surely only applies to those who are lucky enough to have enough leisure time (and money) to spend such long periods of time overseas? i.e. retirees or rich b-stewards who don't have to work... 😁 ;)

LOL! Well Ive been doing it since my early 40s! :D I was still working though. I just pretended to clients I was in an office.

This could be a glimmer of hope for France at least. Trouble is its clearly not on the UK Governments radar. Perhaps they would prefer we spent our money in the UK so I Cant see them fighting for it. They never even responded to the journalist when asked for a comment.

 
A quick trip to Lithuania then anywhere in Shengan. No border checks.???
I don't know much (anything, really!) about Lithuanian visas but their website says they can only be extended in "exceptional" circumstances, so I don't think that will help :)
 
Well, we might qualify for most of those insults but we are certainly not rich. One of the reasons we all do this is that it is cheaper to live long-term in a motorhome in Spain than it is to live in a house in England :)

I'm just suffering from green-eyed-monster syndrome, John, for all those lucky enough to be able to escape to the continent at any time, not just current 'exceptional' times 😁 ;) (y)
 
Europe and EU are as we know NOT exactly the same.
Schengen countries different again..(Switzerland and Norway to name 2 with differing status)
As EU citizens "Freedom of movement" overode Schengen..Hence no 90 day limit etc
Despite the recent deal on 1st January EU rules do not apply to UK citizens
AND Schengen rules apply. Those UK citizens with residency status in any Schengen Country have no limit..........
Oh, if only that were true. As a British national and a French resident, we, of course can stay as long as we like in France because we live there, but will be subject to the 90 day rule if we visit other countries in the Schengen zone, the same as any other UK national.


Edited and removed potential controversial idea!
 
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Oh, if only that were true. As a British national and a French resident, we, of course can stay as long as we like in France because we live there, but will be subject to the 90 day rule if we visit other countries in the Schengen zone, the same as any other UK national.


Edited and removed potential controversial idea!
It is hard to see how one can prove how long spent in residence and how long in Schengen area though? We plan to save receipts from Portugal and then from Spain and France to prove date left etc, but not sure if that is foolproof or acceptable...we shall see! Once we are able to travel around again, of course! Easy at the moment as leave Portugal and three days later crossing the border back into UK!
 
No, we can’t see how anyone will know how long we spend in any country as we have a French registered van and will not cross any non Schengen borders. Different to anyone entering the Schengen countries though, where passports and country of residence will be logged in and out of the zones when the new border computers will be active
 
If you chance it and over 90 days out of country whether you try and manipulate the system or not - plod stops you - could your van get confiscated - and you get escorted to the next available flight back home - all speculation still until next year when all will be known + some unforseen problems i expect
There are three punishments for overstaying, and there are two scenarios for getting caught.
Firstly, you will get caught, as you are checked in and checked out, secondly you might get caught whilst still touring.
The three punishments are, deportation, fine, ban.
Either way you can expect the fine, but quite what happens after that is anyone's guess.
 
I think when the Spanish economy begins too suffer you will certainly see travel restrictions eased without a doubt. That will go for the rest of Europe too!(y)
 
I think when the Spanish economy begins too suffer you will certainly travel restrictions eased without a doubt. That will go for the rest of Europe too!(y)
I don't know what the figures are but I suspect that those of us who want to stay more than 3 months and who are not resident are a very small number with very little effect on the Spanish economy, so I do not share your view. However, there is potential good news on the horizon because it looks as if there might be a successor to EHIC, which will mean that we will only need private insurance for time spent in, say, Morocco. Thus it is looking increasingly possible for us to spend, say, two months plus in Spain, two months plus in Morocco and then a further month in Spain, which will take care of the winter nicely :)
 
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90 day maximum camper insurance is cheaper than longer trip insurance. At first I can imagine 3 trips per year of 90 day or less each. One summer one levened with say a month or more in the Balkans and a winter one levened with a trip to morocco. The third could be just Eu based. That would probably be more than enough for us. The possible Ehic continuation is good news
 
I think when the Spanish economy begins too suffer you will certainly see travel restrictions eased without a doubt. That will go for the rest of Europe too!(y)
I read that the interpretation of the guidelines will be up to individual member countries up to a point, but I think they will have difficulties bending them for financial reasons. Far better for them to try to get some sort of official relaxation of the rules, but, I should imagine Spains tourist industry relies much more on package holidays and regular holidaymakers to their resorts / hotels.
It would be interesting to find out how much the tourist industry makes on those who have in the past stayed for extended periods to see if it is worthwhile making representations to allow them to stay. At the moment, ( after 1 January) longer stays will only be allowed with visas, which I understand are costly and not that easy to obtain.
As far as I know, France ( and maybe other countries) are looking for ways to extend the 90 day rule for second home owners, but, of course, this will rely on reciprocal arrangements from the countries these people live in.
 
UK tourism 4% of Spanish GDP last time I looked. Most of that will be short haul holidaymakers. Don't think restricting long termers to 90 days will be that difficult. Many have taken residency and so will spend even more time and money in Spain. Plus will pay income tax to Spain not UK. Will be a counterbalance I think but we will see
 

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