Britons may need £52 visa to visit Europe after Brexit

Spain has threatened to derail visa-free EU travel for Britons because of a row over Gibraltar.

Spain is threatening to block visa-free travel for British tourists travelling to continental Europe in a row over Gibraltar.

Visa-free travel was agreed in principle by negotiators on both sides previously.

However, Spain, which still officially claims Gibraltar as their own, has demanded it be branded a “colony” at the eleventh hour.

The Mediterranean country has made numerous attempts to use Brexit in its efforts to snatch back sovereignty of the Rock from Britain, derailing Brussels’ preparations for Brexit.

Petr Ježek, a Czech MEP, said Spain was “playing with fire.”

“The negotiation is stuck,” he said. “Brexit will hurt immensely and we should do everything possible to soften the impact rather than create further problems for half a billion people. If there is no agreement, and no visa exemption for the UK, the British government may adopt a similar approach – and that would be a disaster.”

If the impasse is not broken and the UK crashes out on 29 March, British tourists will be left in legal limbo.

The UK will be neither on the list of countries where a visa is required nor on the visa-exemption list.

It would mean British travellers would have to pay £52 (€60) for a visa to visit an EU members state for less than 90 days.

“Gibraltar is not a colony and it is completely inappropriate to describe in this way,” the British Government said.

“Gibraltar is a full part of the UK family.”