{"id":315176,"date":"2025-12-14T06:58:21","date_gmt":"2025-12-14T06:58:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/315176\/"},"modified":"2025-12-14T06:58:21","modified_gmt":"2025-12-14T06:58:21","slug":"spain-proposes-visa-exemption-for-short-stays-to-the-united-kingdom-the-second-largest-destination-for-spanish-investment-worldwide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/315176\/","title":{"rendered":"Spain proposes visa exemption for short stays to the United Kingdom, the second largest destination for Spanish investment worldwide"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Spanish government has proposed to the British government that they agree on a visa exemption for certain skilled workers on short visits to provide services, said Spanish Secretary of State for Trade Amparo L\u00f3pez Senovilla this week. L\u00f3pez spoke to the press after participating in the presentation in London of the VII Barometer on the Climate and Outlook for Spanish Investment in the United Kingdom<\/a>, prepared by the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in London.<\/p>\n

\u2018Bringing in workers to provide services is difficult, it is an obstacle that we want to remove and we are working bilaterally with the British Government to allow skilled workers to be brought in to provide services in the United Kingdom,\u2019 L\u00f3pez said. \u2018They (the British) have a sponsorship system, which we consider to be burdensome for our companies. We have agreed to work on and seek certain similarities with a formula that has just been approved by the Spanish Government: a visa exemption for stays of less than 90 days for the provision of services in mode four, which will have a positive impact on the United Kingdom and other countries,\u2019 he explained.<\/p>\n

\u2018We have proposed this formula as something that the British Government could offer in a similar way, and they are studying it,\u2019 she said. The immigration issue is one of the main concerns of Spanish companies in the UK, and some complain that there are no ways to bring their executives for short stays without the need for a visa. The Secretary of State also considered the fall in Spanish investment flows to the United Kingdom in the first half of 2025, which amounted to \u20ac331 million, compared to \u20ac4.88 billion the previous year, to be a \u2018one-off\u2019 event within a \u2018general trend\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u2018It is true that there has been a decline, which is mainly due to a situation of uncertainty and volatility. Uncertainty is never good for business, but we must also recognise that last year there were some very important one-off investment operations. We hope that the pace of investment will continue,\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n

Despite this decline, the United Kingdom remains the second largest destination for Spanish investment worldwide, behind the United States, with a cumulative volume of \u20ac83 billion in 2023, equivalent to 13.1% of the total invested by Spanish companies abroad, according to the Barometer.
By sector, in 2024 telecommunications accounted for 60.5% of flows (\u20ac2.95 billion), followed by cosmetics and perfumery (12.5%). In the first half of 2025, energy supply dominated, accounting for 73.7% of flows (\u20ac244 million), according to the Chamber\u2019s report.<\/p>\n

Other strategic sectors in the United Kingdom include air transport, which accounts for 96.2% of Spanish investment in this activity (\u20ac2.59 billion), as well as financial services and wholesale trade, which record the highest cumulative volumes. Regarding the business climate, companies gave a score of 2.9 out of 5 this year, stable compared to 2024. Seven out of ten consider it \u2018acceptable\u2019 or better, although 47% perceive a deterioration in the last year.<\/p>\n

Respondents value a favourable ecosystem for the development and implementation of digital processes and a commitment to economic and business sustainability, both with 3.6 points, while the worst rated area is research, development and innovation, with 2.7 points, reflecting the perception of limited support from the public sector. Looking ahead to 2026, more than 60% of companies expect to increase revenue, 45% plan to increase investment and 89% expect to maintain or expand their workforce.<\/p>\n

Among the short-term risks, companies point to inflation, possible increases in operating costs and changes in fiscal policy as the factors that could most affect their businesses. The Barometer was presented three months after the signing of the Bilateral Strategic Framework between the United Kingdom and Spain<\/a> by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Spanish President Pedro S\u00e1nchez<\/a>, which strengthens economic cooperation between the two countries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Spanish government has proposed to the British government that they agree on a visa exemption for certain…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":315177,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[125179,90073,934,54811,935,59,57,58,3948,3949,50,125182,98907,125180,2142,640,56,54,55,125181],"class_list":["post-315176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-90-day-rule","tag-balearics","tag-brexit","tag-british-expats","tag-european-union","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-majorca","tag-mallorca","tag-news","tag-paperwork","tag-pedro-sanchez","tag-seasonal-workers","tag-sir-keir-starmer","tag-spain","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-working-in-spain"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=315176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315176\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/315177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=315176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=315176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=315176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}