Alicante’s Mazón presses Spanish Ambassador on 90-day rule

The leader of Alicante’s provincial council has met with the Spanish ambassador in London to tackle the situation of British residents in Alicante post-Brexit.

Carlos Mazón took the opportunity of being in London for the World Travel Market trade fair to visit José Pascual Marco, to discuss working together to extend the current limit of 90 days in every 180 for non-resident UK nationals.

Following the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union, non-resident Brits cannot stay in Spain for more than 90 days during any 180 day period, something which is a bone of contention for many people. The Valencia region, and in particular the province of Alicante, has always been popular with retired UK nationals many of whom liked to spend half their year in the UK and half in Spain.

The meeting with the ambassador, which took place at London’s Chesham Place, was also attended by Benidorm mayor, Toni Pérez, and provincial head of tourism, José Mancebo.

Mazón explained: “British residents in the province are a source of wealth for us and one of our best ambassadors for bringing British tourists to the Costa Blanca.

“They are fundamental, which is why we are working reciprocally so that they can stay for six months continuously in our country when they come to visit us because they are the same conditions Spaniards can be in the UK.”

Mazón said the meeting had gone well: “It was very satisfactory and the ambassador is perfectly aware of one of the priorities of Alicante as a great province and probably the most British in the whole of Spain, with its more than 70,000 residents.”

Mazón also explained that the ambassador was committed to pressing the UK government on the issue due to the “Urgent need for economic and touristic interests.”