Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Spanish counterpart on increasing the number of days British citizens with property can stay in Spain without a residence permit.

Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office officials and Ministers regularly engage Spanish counterparts on a range of issues affecting UK nationals, including on visa matters. The UK and the EU allow for visa-free short-term travel in line with their respective arrangements for third country nationals. The UK allows EU citizens short-term visa-free travel for up to six months. Meanwhile, the EU allows for travel within the Schengen Area for up to 90 days in any rolling 180-day period; this is standard for third countries travelling visa-free to the EU. Applications for visas to visit or stay for longer periods of time would be processed according to the rules of individual Member States.