Lisbon/Madrid
Michelle Jones and her husband Gary boarded a ferry in England for a new life in Spain. Had they left it beyond Britain’s period of transition out of the European Union, things would have been much more complicated.
“We haven’t got a choice – it’s now or never,” the former housing association worker said at the hairdressing salon she has taken over in the resort town of Fuengirola in southern Spain. “Our family and friends in the UK think we’re mad for doing it” during a pandemic, Jones, 54, said, but “we are not going to go through the rigmarole of trying to get visas and things like that.”
Britain formally left the European Union on Jan. 31 after its 2016 referendum, but since then it has been in a transition period under which rules on free travel and trade remain unchanged. That period ends on Dec. 31. Fourteen European countries, including Portugal and Spain, will grant Britons arriving before Dec. 31 the right to five years of residency. Other countries have tougher post-Brexit requirements, asking all Britons to re-apply after the transition period.
Ahead of the deadline, some people have brought forward retirement plans and others have taken advantage of being able to work from home to move.—Agencies
