Copyright majorcadailybulletin
Lookout Spain, Portugal is attracting thousands of new British residents and is putting Spain slightly in the shade when it comes to a "place in the sun" for expat Britons. Since Brexit, while the British resident population has stayed stable or even declined in Spain, the British population in Portugal has surged. There are now 50,000 British residents in Portugal with many making the move since Brexit encouraged by easier rules and regulations. The British are the second-largest foreign community in Portugal, surpassed only by Brazil. The most popular regions for British expatriates include the Algarve, Lisbon, Setúbal, and Porto. The Portuguese Golden visa is proving exceptionally popular especially with the British because it is designed for non-European Union citizens. Spain scrapped its visa earlier this year. The Portuguese visa is available for a 500,000 euro investment. It grants visa-free travel within the Schengen Area and requires a minimal physical stay in Portugal (seven days in the first year and 14 days in each subsequent two-year period). After five years of holding the residency, you can apply for permanent residency or citizenship. British migration to Spain has resulted in Spain being home to one of the largest British-born populations outside the United Kingdom in the world, and the largest in Europe. Migration from the UK to Spain has increased rapidly since the late 1990s and the registered population of British nationals in Spain in 2014 was 297,229 (2014). After Brexit, in 2020 British nationals in Spain numbered 262,885.
