UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves visited Madrid on Wednesday to meet with Spanish businesses and agree on other ways to strengthen ties between both countries post-Brexit, including a short-stay work visa waiver.
Reeves’ first visit to Spain as Chancellor marks the continuation of the UK government’s attempts to forge closer ties with the EU under Keir Starmer.
The UK Treasury announced a £240 million investment in Spanish liquid storage company Exolum to coincide with the Chancellor’s visit to the Spanish capital, where she is due to speak with 120 businesses and investors.
Reeves will also meet Spanish Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo to sign a joint declaration aimed at intensifying economic cooperation between the United Kingdom and Spain, within the framework of the first edition of the Trade and Investment Dialogue being held in Madrid.
Advertisement
According to the British government, the meeting will also address a possible simplification of the travel rules for UK workers heading to Spain.
This would take the form of a work visa waiver for UK services professionals travelling to Spain for fewer than 90 days, and vice versa for their Spanish counterparts heading to the UK.
UK service professionals encompass a wide range of expert fields, primarily categorized into legal, financial, consulting, IT, and specialised corporate support services.
“The UK is the world’s second largest exporter of services – and this change could be worth around £250 million in additional exports to UK exporters over a five-year period,” the British Embassy in Spain said in a press release.
It’s worth noting that it was the Spanish government which first proposed this mutual work visa exemption scheme with the United Kingdom in a bid to bypass post-Brexit bureaucracy and boost economic relations between the two countries.
Reeves’ visit to Spain comes a day after she set out plans for Britain to follow more of the European Union’s rules.
According to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, a closer alignment with Brussels would provide certainty to businesses and could help reduce inflation, warning that the UK is at risk of being “stranded” between rival trading blocs if it doesn’t look for a closer relationship with the EU.
“In an uncertain world, we must build growth that is secure and resilient. We do this best through partnerships with those who share our interests, our values, and our ambitions,” Reeves said.
“We count Spain amongst those partners – and the prize for doing more together is considerable.
“Our economic plan is the right one. By restoring stability, boosting investment and driving reform through an active and strategic state, we will build a stronger and more secure economy.”
Advertisement
For his part, Minister Cuerpo said: “No country can face the challenges of this era alone — economic security, technological transformation, climate change. The answer is more cooperation with trusted partners, not less. And the United Kingdom is, and will remain, one of Spain’s most important partners.”
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez also brought up Brexit and UK-Spain relations in a recent long-form interview on the podcast “The Rest is Politics”, presented by former Conservative MP Rory Stewart and Tony Blair’s former spokesperson Alastair Campbell.
Sánchez called for the UK to rejoin the EU, adding that countries and governments “can make mistakes”.
He labelled Brexit “a terrible loss” for both the UK and the European project as a whole, and emphasised that even if the UK were not to rejoin, there is ample room to strengthen cooperation between both sides.
Reeves’ visit to Spain is part of the Strategic Framework signed last September in London by Sánchez and Starmer, marking the first visit by a Spanish Prime Minister to Downing Street in seven years.
The overall aim of the deal is to strengthen an already solid economic relationship, with a focus on two strategic areas: technology and defence, and life sciences, a sector that includes Spain’s booming pharmaceutical exports industry.
Spanish exports of goods to the United Kingdom reached €24.9 billion in 2025, 4.5 percent more than in 2024 and 25.4 percent higher than in 2019, the last year before Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Trade in services is even greater. Spain exported €29.2 billion, of which more than €10.6 billion corresponded to non-tourism services.
Conversely, British exports of goods and services to Spain reached £22.1 billion between October 2024 and September 2025, representing an annual growth rate of 11 percent.
In fact, Spain has become one of the fastest-growing export destinations for the UK, second only to Sweden among the top ten markets.
