What a Vox-PP government could mean for Brits in Spain

October 27, 2026 admin 16 Views 0 Comments

Spain’s right-wing bloc is promising sweeping changes to immigration and residency policies that would directly impact UK nationals in the country, as well as a different diplomatic approach to Brexit and Gibraltar.

For some foreigners in Spain, the prospect of a right-wing government may cause concerns. For others, it may be welcome news.

In recent years, however, immigration rhetoric – talk of invaders and criminals – has hardened and seeped into daily discourse in Spain.

Were Spain’s right-wing bloc to win the general election on November 29th, immigration policy in particular, as well as property and residency rights, and perhaps Brexit and Gibraltar, would be set for significant shifts.

For British nationals, this could impact them in several ways, ranging from residency and citizenship to property and visas.

Spain’s right-wing bloc

Before digging into the policies, let’s consider the two parties that the polls suggest will govern Spain.

The Partido Popular (PP) is Spain’s main opposition party and the centre-right group will almost certainly be the biggest party come polling day.

What of their approach to immigration and British nationals? In broad strokes, the PP seems relaxed about affluent, western immigrants while it talks a tough game on migrants from Africa or Latin America.

Overall, the PP is pro-foreign investment and tourism, making life simpler for wealthy westerners like many Brits in Spain, comparatively speaking.

It was the PP back under the premiership of Mariano Rajoy that introduced the golden visa (buy a €500,000 property and gain Spanish residency) and didn’t want the scheme for non-EU nationals to be axed when the Sánchez government scrapped it. Spain’s conservatives also opposed the 100 percent proposed tax on non-resident buyers.

For a centre-right party, they’re pro-EU and will likely be in favour of good relations and trade deals with the UK.

Gibraltar, however, could cause a few diplomatic issues. Party leader and likely next Prime Minister, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, said of the recent Gibraltar Brexit deal that ‘the UK wins and Spain loses’.

As for Vox, polls suggest the far-right party will double its vote share and prop up the PP in government, potentially resulting in Santiago Abascal pushing Feijóo rightwards on many matters.

Vox has supported extra taxes on-resident property buyers (in line with national priority policy, which we’ll touch on later), which could impact British nationals wanting to move to Spain.

However, their hard-line anti-immigration rhetoric is clearly more focused on Muslims and in particular Moroccans, with the party having never spoken negatively about British tourists or residents.

That’s not to say that their ‘national priority’ policies which favours Spaniards over foreigners vis-à-vis housing, healthcare and welfare couldn’t have an impact on Brits living in the country.

Expect blood and soil nationalism on Brexit and Gibraltar as well, and calls increased residency requirements for all, regardless of where they come from.

What Brits in Spain can expect from the PP

Points-based visa system

The PP has suggested that a points-based visa system be introduced to control the entry of migrants seeking jobs in sectors which need more workers, favouring those who adapt ‘better’ to Spanish culture.

It essentially means more priority would be given to those who want to work in positions in-demand, as well as those from Latin America who can already speak Spanish.

It’s unclear how or if this would impact requirements for popular visas with Brits such as the non-lucrative visa and the digital nomad visa.

Golden visa

Another way in which a PP government could significantly impact foreigners is in property, with experts predicting that “Spain’s golden visa will return with a change of government”.

Maria Luisa de Castro from CostaLuz Lawyers told The Local that “the golden visa was not responsible for Spain’s housing problems, and its cancellation has done nothing to solve them,” she explained. “I’m convinced that once there is a change of government, the golden visa – or a similar programme – will return.”

The golden visa, which offered residency to wealthy non-EU nationals who invested or bought Spanish property worth half a million euros, was first introduced by the previous PP government in 2013.

Even though the PP was against the scheme’s cancellation by the Sánchez government, it would be a risky political move to reintroduce it in the current climate of housing protests and affordability problems for Spaniards.

Make it impossible for overstayers to get residency

The PP has proposed toughening up the arraigo residency process if it returns to power, pledging that overstayers will no longer get residency without evidence of contribution or integration.

Arraigo is the process that allows any non-European citizen who has been living in Spain illegally for a certain amount of time to obtain residency and legalise their status.

This means that it could be impossible for British overstayers in Spain and those without a green residency certificate or TIE card to regularise their residency.

No permanent residency without integration

Feijóo has also proposed tightening up access to permanent residency permits by linking them to employment and social integration, rather than simply time spent in the country.

“Long-term residence permits will depend on effort, not on calendars. In general, it will be granted based on criteria of contribution, work and integration, not mere permanence in Spain,” a PP policy document stated.

Tougher language and cultural exams for Spanish citizenship

The PP also wants to tighten the requirements for immigrants to gain Spanish nationality by raising “the linguistic, cultural, and constitutional standards”, something that could prove troublesome for Brits in Spain who haven’t really learnt Spanish.

One of the main parts of this is that the language requirement will be raised to B2 and “a reinforced test of institutional, legal, cultural, and historical knowledge will be implemented”. The B2 level is two-levels above the current A2 requirement.

Brexit and the 90-day rule

Though nothing has been announced at a national level, over the years several PP figures have at local and regional level called for workarounds to the 90-day rule for non-residents with second homes in Spain, such as in Menorca and Andalusia.

Freedom of movement is decided on an EU level anyway, but the calls are revealing about the PP’s stance is on British second home owners post-Brexit.

Although Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez recently said that he welcomed the prospect of the UK rejoining the EU, PP head Feijóo has not made any statements about this possibility.

He did however celebrate the 2023 UK-EU deal which adjusted the post-Brexit Northern Ireland Protocol to ease trade and political frictions, and the PP has long been against the UK leaving the bloc in the first place, labelling it a “historic mistake”.

Better outlook for British property buyers

As mentioned earlier, the PP has spoken out against Pedro Sánchez’s proposed 100 percent tax on people residing outside of the EU looking to buy Spanish properties, a levy which would effectively double the price of a Spanish holiday home for Brits who live in the UK.

The People’s Party is also proposing a general reduction of taxes related to housing, from property transfer tax to VAT, and on a related note they’re also want to slash wealth and inheritance taxes.

What Brits in Spain can expect from Vox

The Vox approach can be best understood as national priority, or in other words ‘Spaniards first’. This underpins most Vox policies that could impact Brits.

National priority

According to the text of a regional PP-Vox agreement, prioridad nacional is the “priority assignment of public resources to those who maintain a real, lasting and verifiable link to the territory”.

Vox leader Santiago Abascal argues Spaniards are currently being “discriminated against’” in access to benefits and housing, adding that “that is what is illegal”.

The hard-right nationalist party has forced the PP to apply this policy in several regions, although its impact on Brits and other foreigners is yet to have come to fruition.

Brexit

In terms of UK-Spain relations more generally, Vox party leader Santiago Abascal, while not openly calling for Spain’s withdrawal from the EU, is somewhat Eurosceptic, particularly on immigration and agriculture.

He said of Brexit some years ago that he believed it was the result of the EU misguided immigration policies, something he said had made London “unrecognisable”, and celebrated the fact the Britons had regained their “sovereignty”.

Gibraltar

On Gibraltar, Vox has the most aggressive position in Spanish politics regarding sovereignty of Gibraltar, demanding the full and immediate return of the overseas territory to Spain. sovereignty.

If Vox enters a coalition government, expect to hear a lot of confrontational language about pirates, colonies, and tax havens.

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