Residency

Under current laws as an EU citizen if you intend to be in Spain for more than three months you must register on the foreigners register - done at the National Police. Once you have spent 183 days in Spain in a calendar year you are regarded as tax resident - a different matter and possibly why some people have tried to stay under the radar, not wanting to pay Spanish tax on all their worldwide income or indeed declare any asset (pension fund, house fancy car etc) worth over 50,000 Euros as they should.

As a resident you must change your UK driving licence to a Spanish one before the photo expires, as a UK one cannot be renewed if you live outside the UK, and any vehicles must be rematriculated onto Spanish plates, with some vital changes needed to headlamps, reversing lights etc.

All this could change if the UK leaves the EU so keep up with political events - they could be very important!

If you stay in Spain for more than 183 days ...you need to become a resident...I have owned a place for 12 year's in Camposol.. I am not a resident as I only use my property as a holiday home and tend to use it every 6 weeks for 2 week's throughout the year.

Frequent flyer is correct, as he/she does not spend more that 90 days at a time, so does not need to register as a foreigner, and perhaps more importantly is not tax-resident. It is very important to understand the difference as just carelessly or unknowingly spending more than the 183 days in a calendar year in Spain can have massive tax implications, not the least of which is the possibility of heavy fines for non-compliance.

As I said, all this applies to EU citizens, rules for others can be different.

frequent flyer and PeterC...calendar year, is it from Jan to Dec, or when you first moved to Spain?  183 days equate to 6 months. That's not bad if you don't want to register as a resident.  Am I correct?

The clue is in the word "calendar". These (or at least the Christian ones) run from 1st January to 31st December.

The 183 days is the total allowable in the year, whether it be one visit or several short ones. It is not the only criteria, as the Tax authorities can declare that you are tax resident if your main residence and/or business is in Spain - e.g. if your family live in Spain supported by you by you working outside Spain. I have heard of several families where the wife and children live here with the husband working abroad and visiting them for less than the 183 days - the Agencia Tributaria are getting keener on maximising income from expats, who will (barring a miracle) shortly be much easier to have their movements tracked.

PeterC. This is another scenario.

You and your wife stay in Spain within the time frame allowed of 183 days.

Members of your family and friends stay at different time of the year.....non-rental. Would these days be added to the 183 days?

What friends and family do has nothing to do with what you do.

Just a thought. Thanks 

Anyone thinking of buying in Camposol should maybe check this out....

"There is a new notice to state roads are now private, and the council will not cover any work, repairs.

I spoke to Silvana who has confirmed this.

Get ready for lots of costs to the owners of properties."