Sorry if this was answered already..

[Gothamgirl1970]

What will happen to all the British people who left the U.K. years ago and settled their lives full time in the EU but only hold the old British passports?

Not sure I understand your question.

I live outside of the UK and when my passport expires I will get it renewed.

@UpShutTheFuck yes but it will be a British passport not an EU passport which from what I understand doesn’t give you full time residency/domicile rights

Don't they have to have applied for residency by now?

They will have applied for residency in the country they're in so the type of passport they have will be irrelevant

A passport doesn't give you domicile or residency, you still have to apply for that. It means you can stay there for X amount of time before you have to make it more formal.

We will apply for post-Brexit residency in the country where we live. Here we have until the end of June 2021 to change existing permits for a WARP (withdrawal agreement residency permit). Freedom of movement allowed British people to live in whichever European countries they chose but they still have to follow the rules of the country they moved to regarding registering for residency (not always necessary), registering for health services, tax, etc. Luckily the countries involved worked out a system for Brexit victims before 30/12/20

Thank you. The reason I am asking is that a married couple who are friends of mine British citizens always never having lived abroad, late 50’s both on disability, have planned to move to Spain permanently and sell their U.K. residence. From what I read on Spain’s visa citizenship website which has had some changes, if you hadn’t already been living there prior to 1Jan you’d need a student visa, a shortage occupation visa, a heritage rights, or open a business with at least a €500,000 bond and employ Spanish Nationals or something called a platinum visa which involves a business, residence purchase and I believe last I checked €1.000,000 bond held by the Spanish government. They are literally dead set on this and about to put their paid off house fir sale which is worth £275,000.

I pray I am wrong and there is some avenue open for them to reside there for the rest of their days but there is no way they meet any of the requirements above and the risk is the house sells and they can’t live in Spain. If you have any further information I’d be very grateful. Many thanks

@MountainDweller thank you for that. However does that also cover new arrivals or merely people already in situ?

Exactly what @MountainDweller said. You need to prove that you have been resident here for a certain amount of time and that you are covered for health care in order to qualify for a residents permit.

We have friends who went down to Spain (from France) several months ago purely so that they can establish residence there and become part of the health system before 31st December in order to have the right to remain there permanently.

Passports are an entirely seperate issue. I am entitled to a UK passport as I am a UK citizen. When it comes time to renew I will only be entitled a UK (non-EU) passport.

If I wanted a French (EU) passport I would have to become a French citizen.

I think your friends may be in for a nasty shock. I hope they didn't vote leave.

It makes no difference whether they voted leave or not so why say it? There are enough goady threads on Brexit without turning this into one.
OP, your friends will be unable to live in Spain full time and there is info available from reputable sites that you can point them towards that will confirm this. Unless they meet the financial requirements, they can only spend 90 days out of a 180-day period in Spain.

@lifestooshort123 I really wasn't intending to be goady or to make this into a Brexit discussion, but the fact that the OPs friends now cannot up sticks and move to Spain is one of many consequences of the UK leaving the EU, and one that seems to have come as a surprise to a lot of people (including, it seems, the OPs friends).

To be absolutely clear: the actual colour/design of the physical passport makes no difference. Whether a UK citizen’s passport says ‘European Union’ on it or not, the passport holder will cease to be an EU citizen when the UK finally and completely leaves the EU.

After that, freedom of movement ceases just as they do not have freedom of movement to the US or Canada or Japan or wherever else, unless they hold other nationalities or permits that allow this.

‘EU passport’ is merely shorthand for ‘passport from a country that is an EU member nation’. So UK passport will no longer be EU passports when the UK ceases to be an EU member nation.

Like a PP said, people don't generally understand what freedom of movement is (was) and how it affects retirement plans to an EU country. It means you can't move freely to/from Spain, let alone move there without any substantial paperwork.

I've just been looking at the Spanish government's website that explains what your friends would need to do, in order to settle as a Spanish resident - without working.

You are right OP, they can't just sell their house and move like you could do until tomorrow. They will need a visa. Like any non-EU citizen coming to Spain does, or like if your friends wanted to emigrate to Australia or Colombia or Tanzania or Japan.

A long-term resident visa when you don't work or study will be very expensive. You will have to prove how you'll maintain yourself for X amount of years. You'll need private healthcare. You'll need to process all of this and organise it well in advance of moving. This is what Brexit means for people like your friends.

@Gothamgirl1970 as others have said, your friends are too late - they need to have arrived in Spain with the intention of establishing residency by 31 December in order to move there under current Freedom of Movement rules. Specialist Facebook groups for migrants to the EU are full of people trying to meet this deadline, having had their plans upset by Covid and the decision by many EU countries not to allow British tourists entry at the moment. From 1 January your friends will count as third country nationals in the EU and will be subject to the same rules as someone from, say, the US or Australia (I'm not sure if the requirements you listed are correct, but usually you need a job or a lot of money).