Expat voting
rights treaty
secured with
Spain
Published
21 January 2019
by the
Department for Exiting
the European Union
The UK and Spanish Governments
have signed a treaty that secures the
rights of British and Spanish citizens
to stand and vote in local elections
in each other’s countries after the
UK leaves the EU. The treaty signed
by Robin Walker MP and Minister
Marco Aguiriano, on the 21 January
2019, means that British citizens
living in Spain and Spanish citizens
in the UK can continue to participate
in local elections in the future.
The treaty contains transitional
provisions, ensuring that UK
nationals who are registered to vote
in the upcoming local elections in
Spain this May, will continue to be
able to do so in any Brexit scenario.
Guidance on how to ensure you are
registered can be found on the Spanish
government website. In future, UK
nationals will need to have resided in
Spain for three years to exercise their
rights under this treaty. The criteria
of Spanish nationals to vote in local
elections in the UK will remain the
same.
We welcome this significant
treaty that reaffirms the importance