The table‑thumping — both literal and figurative — by former British prime minister David Cameron in rainy Brussels in the autumn of 2014 now feels like a faraway memory. But that was where it all began. “We are not going suddenly to get out our checkbook and write a check for €2 billion. It is not going to happen,” the irate Conservative politician said after a European summit where his counterparts demanded his country increase its contribution. The promise of a referendum was already on the table at that point, but it still seemed distant and vague.

Few guessed what was coming: that within a year and a half the British Isles would vote “leave” at the ballot box, choosing to go it alone at a time when, more than ever, the big fish have the upper hand over the small. Today, more than a decade later, the performance of once‑mighty Great Britain would disappoint even many who voted to leave. The country is, on almost every front, worse off than those who campaigned to leave had projected.

A sluggish economy

The numbers seemed clear to those who wanted to believe: without the corset of EU rules, they said, growth would take off and the pound sterling would get stronger. Exactly the opposite has happened. Britain’s GDP is now between six and eight percentage points lower than it would have been had the UK remained in the bloc, according to a comprehensive analysis published late last year by the U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research and Stanford University. Since Brexit, the British economy has averaged annual growth of 1.4%, four tenths of a point lower than in the 15 years immediately before. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) estimates that productivity today is 4% lower than it would be had the country voted to stay.

Far from an export miracle

More data from the OBR, an independent and well-respected agency, show that foreign trade is now 15% lower. And the once‑coveted trade deals with third countries outside Brussels’ supposed impositions have had “no material impact and, if any, will be gradual,” its analysis published last summer says. Compared with the sharp rise in tourism in other nearby countries such as Spain, France and Italy, the increase in tourism to Britain has been much more muted. And although the City — London’s powerful financial industry — did not suffer the collapse some predicted, the pound has nonetheless lost ground against the euro.

Movement restrictions

One of Brexit’s biggest blows has been the restrictions on movement between the UK and the EU. Those wishing to travel from one territory to the other can only do so visa‑free for up to 90 days, and since April 2, 2025 EU citizens must apply in advance for an Electronic Travel Authorisation to cross the border.

In its early days this permit, valid for two years, cost £10 (about €12). A week later it rose to £16. And since April 8, 2025 it has been £20. If the 90 days are exceeded, a visa appropriate to the purpose of the stay (study, work, non‑lucrative residence…) must be obtained. Its fee, set on a reciprocal basis, ranges from £298 to £1,884 (about €340 to €2,180).

Post‑Brexit restrictions have also weakened the British passport: in 2016 it ranked third on the list of all the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa; today it is sixth and falling. Yet visa‑free destinations for British passport holders have increased as well: from 175 a decade ago to 185 today. The visa‑free options of its former partners have also grown, however.

Fewer students

Travel restrictions between the UK and the EU have caused a kind of disenchantment with the UK among European students, both because of higher costs and the complexity of bureaucratic procedures.

Data from the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford show that the number of EU students enrolled in a UK higher education institution fell from 138,040 in the 2016‑2017 academic year to 75,490 in 2023‑2024, the last year for which statistics are available. The peak was recorded in 2020‑2021, months before the UK’s exit from the Union came into force.

A depleted health service

The latest British Social Attitudes survey (BSA), from March 2025, reveals that only one in four Britons is “very” or “quite” satisfied with the functioning of the NHS, the UK’s public health system and once a flagship of its welfare state. One in two said they were “very” or “quite” dissatisfied. In 2016 those figures were 63% and 22%, respectively.

Immigration, another unkept promise

Many who argued for leaving the EU were driven by an identitarian, nativist and nationalist impulse. They wanted more Britain, less Europe and, of course, less immigration. That has not been the case: although many EU nationals have moved away — in net terms, 162,000 EU citizens left between 2021 and 2025 — arrivals from non‑EU countries have surged, according to official data.

…And a great paradox: the far right is surging

Far from being penalized, those who pushed the hardest for the UK to leave the EU have in some cases benefited. The latest polls put Reform UK — the far‑right party shaped in the image of its leader, the consistently controversial and theatrical Nigel Farage, the most recognizable face of the pro‑Brexit movement — as the favorite. Pending the hope that the prospective next British prime minister Andy Burnham may inspire within the currently dispirited Labour ranks, the same populism that wrapped Brexit in impossible promises has never been closer to 10 Downing Street.

The winners: a few beneficiaries

While a majority continue to grapple with Brexit’s bitterness, a few have indeed benefited from the UK’s exit from the EU. Beyond Farage and his circle, a recent article in the Financial Times detailed how Northern Ireland now enjoys a unique economic status that allows it access to both the EU goods market and the UK market without restrictions. No other part of the UK has benefited from this or a similar arrangement.

Likewise, the customs sector has seen a notable expansion of its workforce, with around 10,000 new customs officers hired to cope with the extra paperwork, according to the Institute of Export and International Trade.

A handful of newly established companies in the food and technology sectors (with artificial intelligence at the forefront) have also profited from the shift in regulatory rules, no longer obliged to comply with EU regulations that are less flexible than national ones.

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Ten years after UK voters went to the polls on June 23, 2016, British life in Spain has not disappeared. But residency documents, 90-day limits, property shifts, trade friction and family care worries now shape a relationship that once felt far simpler.

How the Brexit vote still shapes British life in Spain

When the UK voted to leave the European Union on June 23, 2016, much of the public debate centred on trade, sovereignty, immigration and Westminster politics.

For British residents in Spain, the longer story became more practical. The vote did not instantly change daily life, and Britain did not formally leave the EU until January 2020. But over the decade that followed, the meaning of being British in Spain changed.

Living, retiring, working, staying with family or caring for elderly relatives in Spain is no longer something British citizens can assume in the same way EU citizens can.

Paul Michael, 67, a British resident in Cádiz who has lived in Spain for more than 23 years, said the first noticeable shift was the need to prove a status that had once felt settled.

“Despite living legally in Spain for many years, I suddenly had to deal with changes in my status as a British resident in Spain and residency paperwork,” he told Euro Weekly News.

How freedom of movement became forms, cards and calendar counting

Before Brexit, UK citizens could move to Spain under EU freedom of movement rules. Since the end of the transition period, British citizens arriving to live in Spain are generally treated as non-EU nationals and must meet visa, residency and documentation requirements.

For those already legally resident before the cut-off, the Withdrawal Agreement protected many existing rights. But even protected residents still had to make sure they could prove their position.

Spain’s TIE, the Tarjeta de Identidad de Extranjero, or foreigner identity card, became an important document for British residents proving post-Brexit status.

Paul said this is what many people in the UK failed to understand.

“Some people underestimate the value of freedom of movement because they never used it themselves,” he said. “The right to live and work in Spain changed overnight. Many thought Brexit was just about trade arrangements and politics.”

That distinction matters, and still shapes who can live, work, retire or stay long-term in Spain.

How 90-day limits changed second homes, family visits and care

For British citizens without residency or a long-stay visa, Spain sits inside the Schengen 90-day rule. That generally limits visa-free stays in Spain and most other Schengen countries to 90 days in any 180-day period.

Maureen Smith, a British resident who moved to Spain in 1990 and lived around Sotogrande and Pueblo Nuevo for more than three decades, said the referendum result was a shock.

“Brexit was a disaster and we couldn’t believe the result,” she said.

For Smith, one of the clearest practical changes was the loss of automatic movement between the UK, Spain and the wider EU.

“The 90-day rule for villa owners was bad,” she said. “There was no freedom of movement and more hassle at airports.”

She said Brexit also affected feelings of security among some long-term residents, even those who had worked, raised families and built stable lives in Spain.

“I felt insecure even though I had a full-time job at school and a pension,” she said.

Care has become one of the most sensitive post-Brexit issues. Recent reporting has highlighted British families struggling to care for elderly relatives in Spain because UK-based relatives cannot simply stay indefinitely without residency or a visa.

Smith, who returned to the UK for family health reasons, said Spain had been “a great place to bring up children”, but that ageing could change the calculation.

“For older people, if they lose a partner, life is very different,” she said.

How the Costas changed without losing their British base

The South and Eastern coasts of the Iberian Peninsula have long been shorthand for British life in Spain, and British buyers have not disappeared. But post-Brexit, new British arrivals face a different legal path from EU citizens buying, retiring or working in Spain.

There is evidence of change, but the figures do not show a simple British retreat.

Spain’s General Council of Notaries said foreigners accounted for 18.4 per cent of free-market home purchases in Spain in the second half of 2025. British and Moroccan buyers were the two largest foreign groups, followed by Italians and Germans.

Paul said claims that British communities have faded away can be exaggerated.

“There is still a large British community here,” he said. “There are fewer new British arrivals than before Brexit because it has made moving to and working in Spain far more complicated. But there are still many large British communities.”

How tourism stayed strong while the wider relationship grew more complex

The numbers also show a split between visiting Spain and building a life there.

Spain received a record 96.8 million international tourists in 2025, according to Spain’s National Statistics Institute. British visitors remained a central part of Spain’s tourism market, with official monthly data repeatedly showing the UK among the leading source countries.

That suggests Brexit has not broken the UK-Spain travel habit. But holidays are not the same as residency.

How British residents in Spain now need to plan differently

British residents covered by the Withdrawal Agreement should keep residency documents up to date, including the TIE where applicable. Second-home owners and regular visitors need to track Schengen days carefully. Families with elderly relatives in Spain may need legal advice before assuming a UK-based son, daughter or carer can stay long-term.

For new arrivals, the old idea of trying Spain first and sorting paperwork later is far more difficult than it used to be.

For British residents in Spain, Brexit’s anniversary marks a decade in which a familiar way of life survived, but became less automatic, less flexible and much more dependent on paperwork and ever-changing rules and regulations.