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  • The Spanish government recently announced that it would be lifting the entry restrictions for arrivals from the UK

    Spain's Council of Ministers have finally decided to rescind the UK travel ban that has been in place since the 22nd of December 2020.
    Until now on Spanish nationals or those with Spanish residency have been able to travel to Spain from the UK. Great! Finally a return to normal! Holidays in the sun for everybody!

    Of course on hearing this good news, the British government announced new Covid regulations on who can travel and for what reason. Holidays in the Sun are a no go. That is unless you are happy to pay a £5,000 (5,800€) fine! Not an amount that would affect the rich, but would be felt by most of us mere mortals...
    Thankfully though it is not all doom and gloom as there are a range of exceptions in place that do benefit those looking at buy or selling a property or need to manage their assets in Spain.

    UK health regulations
    Link to The Health Protection legislation
    The link above covers all regulations that came into force on the 29th of March 2021, but for our case I will be looking at those related to travel for property purposes

    Page 13
    Restrictions on leaving the United Kingdom 8.
    No person may, without a reasonable excuse-
    (a) leave England to travel to a destination outside the United Kingdom, or
    (b) travel to, or be present at, an embarkation point for the purpose of travelling from there to a destination outside the United Kingdom. (2) For the purposes of paragraph (1), the circumstances where a person (“P”) has a reasonable excuse to travel outside the United Kingdom include those set out in Schedule 5.

    So to see what constitutes a reasonable excuse let us look at Schedule 5 on Page 71
    Where it is reasonably necessary for P to leave the United Kingdom to undertake any of the following activities in connection with the purchase, sale, letting or rental of a residential property
    (a) visiting estate or letting agents, developer sales offices or show homes;
    (b) viewing residential properties to look for a property to buy or to rent;
    (c) preparing a residential property to move in;
    (d) moving house;
    (e) to visit a residential property to undertake any activities required for the rental or sale of that property

    So if you are interested in buying or selling a Costa del Sol property, you should be able to travel down relatively easily. But as always keep up to date on the latest news.
    Also do not forget that there are PCR test that need to be done prior to travel and do not forget the COVID declaration form for international travel that is needed as well!

    Regards
    Andrew Bellés

    UPDATE 07/04/2021: Spain have not specified buying property as an essential journey into the country. If you can claim residency, have an NIE number and proof you are completing on a property, be able to get to Spain. But discuss this with a legal expert prior to making plans!