Mark Saxby, a 56-year-old British teacher, has expressed in the newspaper The Guardian his frustration and despair after facing a three-year bureaucratic battle to obtain residency in Spain after Brexit. Saxby, who arrived in Valencia before the pandemic in 2020, has been caught in legal limbo due to a problem with his health insurance. Now, he fears that his right to reside in the country is in jeopardy.
“It’s mean what they’re doing to me,” Saxby told the British newspaper, describing the torment he has experienced since being denied residency for not having a month’s health insurance in 2021, despite meeting the requirements set out in the withdrawal agreement approved by the EU and the United Kingdom. “I’ve done everything necessary, but all this is simply ridiculous,” he says of the Valencian authorities’ refusal.
Saxby, who teaches English as a foreign language in the Valencian Community, submitted his application for residency in 2020, but the lockdown and closure of offices due to the pandemic delayed the process. When the Valencian authorities reviewed his application, they informed him that in the first year of his residence in Spain, he did not have a month of health insurance. Although the professor appealed, using the bilateral agreement on health between Spain and the United Kingdom, the denial was upheld.
During the three years he has been in this legal limbo, Saxby has exhausted all his savings and has been forced to work in the UK during the summer to support himself. However, every time he returns to Spain, he feels deep anxiety. “My only home is in Spain, but I have spent the whole summer not knowing if they will let me in when I return,” he said, adding that the uncertainty has made him “physically ill.”
“I’ve lived in Germany for eight years and I speak Italian, but I was always drawn to Spain because of its friendly and relaxed people,” he explained. “I thought it would be a nice place to live on my teaching salary, but now I feel trapped in a never-ending nightmare.”
No answers and no help
Saxby has sought help from both the British embassy in Madrid and the European Commission, but so far, no one has been able to offer her a solution. The European Commission acknowledged that it has received several complaints regarding the health insurance requirement in Spain, which could indicate a general problem with the implementation of this criterion after Brexit. However, the response she received was that her case is an individual problem, so they would deal with it and that she should seek a lawyer to resolve her situation.
The British citizen also criticises the UK government for having abandoned British citizens living and working in the EU in the Brexit negotiations. “They promised us a well-baked deal, but we are the ones who end up roasted,” he says ironically. “The British embassy tells me they can’t do anything, and the European Commission has just passed me from one agency to another, without any help. It’s as if no one wants to take responsibility,” he explains.
As the date of his return to Spain approaches, Saxby fears that the authorities will deny him entry to the country he has called home for the past three years. His case reflects the difficulties faced by many British citizens after Brexit, particularly regarding residency and complying with bureaucratic requirements in different EU countries.
