UK families should have £6,500 to enter Spain for holiday

UK families heading off on holiday could be asked to prove they have thousands of pounds in their bank accounts to gain entry to Spain and other EU countries, due to a little-known rule.

It comes as Spanish officials have been asking visitors to prove they have a return or onward ticket, as well as pre-booked accommodation. Further checks could also include holidaymakers having to show they have sufficient means to cover themselves financially during their stay.

Spain is defining “sufficient financial means” as access to £93 per person per day. For a family of five, this equates to £466 a day — meaning £6,531 for a two-week holiday there.

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While it is unlikely travellers will be asked to provide proof of their finances, officials have confirmed it could happen. Spanish Tourist Office director for the UK, Manuel Butler, said: “The requirement for UK travellers to be able to illustrate sufficient means for the duration of their stay and the return is established in the Schengen Borders Code and is not a Spain-specific requirement.

“This is not a new requirement and has been in place for some time for visitors from outside of the European Union or Schengen area. When entering Spain, these checks are not systematically carried out for every traveller.”

He told The Mirror that there were similar rules for visitors entering the UK: “Travellers coming to the UK are also required to show that they have specific means to support themselves and any dependents for the duration of the trip and the ability to pay for the return or onward journey.”

But Brits heading to Spain should be made more aware of rules that could get them barred from entering the country. It comes as once again scores of holidaymakers are preparing to pack their bags for Spain and its surrounding islands, looking to make the most of its sunny beaches and warm seas.

Many heading to destinations including Majorca, Malaga and Barcelona may be unaware of a rule that requires you to have handy £93 a day, a report in Chronicle Live revealed.

Spanish officials have been asking visitors to prove that they have a return or onward ticket, as well as pre-booked accommodation or proof of address if visiting friends or even their own properties. The spot checks could also include the “sufficient financial means” rule.

In recent years trips to the UK’s favourite holiday destination, visited by 15million Brits last year, have changed considerably, due to the pandemic, Brexit and regional law changes.

And locals who have grown tired of the noise and excesses of boozy tourists have been lobbying politicians to clamp down on lewd and outrageous behaviour, leading to a number of new rules or tougher measures being introduced.

These, along with post-Brexit requirements around passports, visas and money, mean there is a lot more to take on board ahead of a holiday in Spain than there was before 2020.

There has already been confirmation that Alicante has introduced its toughest-ever crackdown on nuisance visitors efforts to clamp down on noise in the holiday hotspot. Tourists now face massive fines of up to £26,000 if they fall foul of the new laws. The rules are so tough that they include a ban on the scraping of furniture on bar and restaurant terraces, talking too loudly in your apartment and even playing music to the annoyance of others on beaches.