Today the police stopped us on a roundabout, which is very unusual as they usually let us go by. The only thing they showed interest in was the driver's UK licence & they wrote  down the details of this.  Can anyone tell us why? Is this sinister?

I've been interested in this topic for a while now, as If I ever manage to retire, Id like to spend as much time as I can at my shed on the hill, but I  don't want to go down the full residency route, as will still have a house/UK car etc..  so does anyone know the full length of stay in Spain/insurance for UK car etc.. I once heard you could insure the car in Gibraltar and this was a loop hole ,also that to leave Spain and stay in Andorra for a night then return  was another loop hole, but I have never checked these facts out ,must be ways of staying within the law and making it work 

Why would you want to look for loop holes?

Thanks for your replies ,I suppose Rita for purely financial reason,s, I don't want to have to register/unregister a UK  car/van in Spain, then drive back to the UK and have hassle expense once back.
So if you leave Spain toward,s the end of your 6 months,  I wonder is there any time limit on your return ? also I am sure there is a problem with UK car insurance and only being OK driving abroad for a certain number of day,s  the 1 time I did drive down, I took out extra cover,that,s when I heard about insuring through Gibraltar, but as I mentioned I never looked into it, and it,s a few years back now.
Thank again for any advise

Thanks Den for the info,I can see it makes sense for you,I am ten years of retirement so will see how things pan out.

Don't forget that residency in any EU country of over 6 months means you MUST register that country as your tax domicile.  Domestic Residencia is one thing. Fiscal Residencia is another.  Spain wants your tax and they have employed people to track yuo down.

DenGeo wrote on Jan 21^st, 2016 at 9:27pm:


Just a correction on the subject of access to NHS in the UK.

My Form S1 just received states

" However, as you will have your healthcare paid for by the UK by means of an S1 in your country of residence, from April 2015 your right to return to England for all treatment including elective, has been extended. This means that you can access NHS treatment in England as if ordinarily resident (this means treatment will be free unless a statutory charge also applies to residents in England, for example prescription charges). You will not need to obtain any kind of authorisation from your country of residence prior to seeking treatment"

It does not however apply to GP registration !