Spain has proposed a new agreement with the UK that would allow certain qualified workers to travel for short-term periods without needing a visa.
The move is aimed at easing post-Brexit mobility barriers for businesses who operate both in Spain and Britain.
The proposal was outlined this week by Spain’s Secretary of State for Trade Amparo Lopez Senovilla.
Spanish firms, Lopez said, continue to face significant obstacles when sending staff to the UK for short service assignments.
The current British sponsorship-based system is widely seen as cumbersome, particularly for stays of less than 90 days.
Spain has therefore put forward a model recently approved by its own government, which grants visa-free entry for short-term service provision – known as ‘mode four’ mobility – and has asked the UK to consider offering a similar arrangement. British authorities are now studying the proposal.
Staff mobility remains one of the main concerns for Spanish companies operating in the UK, with several reporting difficulties in deploying executives and specialists for short visits without triggering full visa procedures.
Lopez downplayed the recent fall in Spanish investment into the UK during the first half of 2025, which totalled €331 million compared with €4.88 billion the previous year.
She attributed the drop to market uncertainty and volatility, noting that 2024 included several large, one-off investment operations.
Despite the slowdown, the UK remains Spain’s second-largest global investment destination after the US.
In 2024, telecommunications dominated Spanish investment flows into the UK, accounting for 60.5% (€2.95 billion), followed by cosmetics and perfumery.
In the first half of 2025, energy supply led the way, representing nearly three-quarters of total investment.
Air transport, financial services and wholesale trade continue to be key strategic sectors, with particularly high levels of accumulated Spanish investment.
Read more Spain news at the Spanish Eye.
