Post Brexit

Since the beginning of 2021, Britain has no longer been a part of the European Union. Brexit has brought about many profound changes, particularly to the rights of UK citizens who wish to travel to org within the European Union. Although we are still waiting for important travel updates from the UK government regarding COVID-19. Club La Santa is now OPEN once more, so why not have a look at what you can do already to ensure that you are ready to travel when the time comes.

Passports

New rules now apply to UK passport holders. It might be worth checking right now, to see if you need to apply for a new passport. We expect the turnaround times for new passports to significantly increase once travel opens once more. You’ll now need at least six months left on either an adult or child’s passport for travel to most countries in Europe (not including Ireland). If you renewed your current passport before the previous one expired, any extra months may have been added to its expiry date.

Use the passport checker on GOV.UK to learn if you can still use your passport to travel.

Check a passport here -> https://www.gov.uk/check-a-passport-travel-europe

Border control: you may have to show your return ticket and currency.

At border control, you may be asked to:

Show a return or onward ticket
Demonstrate that you have sufficient funds for your trip
Queue in separate lanes to EU, EEA and Swiss citizens for border checks
Your passport will be stamped.

Driving

If you plan on taking a vehicle to Spain (Lanzarote), you’ll need a green card and a GB sticker. Although drivers from the United Kingdom do not require an IDP to drive in Spain following Brexit, it may be worthwhile checking the requirements for any other countries you may pass through on your way to/ from Lanzarote. The rules/ regulations for each country may also vary dependent on a few factors, for example if you have,

a paper driving licence
a licence issued in Gibraltar, Guernsey, Jersey or the Isle of Man

Check with the embassy of the country you’ll be driving in prior to travel.

Car Rental

If you’re planning to rent a car on the island to enjoy for your time in Lanzarote, then good news is that a green card is not required and services remain much unchanged. Green cards are just for driving your own car, or hire cars from the UK, when being driven in the EU. If you’re renting a hire car within the EU, you do not need a green card.

The EHIC becomes the GHIC

The new Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC) will replace the EHIC car (European Health Insurance Card). The EHIC card used to allow British citizens the right to healthcare in the EU. It’s worth checking that you have your European Health Insurance card (EHIC). This card has an expiry date, so be sure to check that it’s still in date before you go.

The EHIC card covers you for emergency medical treatment in state hospitals in EU countries, as well as Switzerland, and a few other countries. You basically get the same treatment as a local resident would. You may have to pay some charges, but you can claim them back when you return home. An EHIC card does not cover you for repatriation or longer hospital stays. You will need travel insurance for this. If you still have an EHIC card that’s in date, then you can continue to use it. If you haven’t got an EHIC card, or if it has or is due to due to expire, then you can now apply for the new GHIC card. You can apply for this , for you and your family, here: www.ghic.co.uk

Liechtenstein, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland are no longer covered on the GHIC card whilst some additional countries are. Healthcare can be expensive in some of those countries, so please ensure you have adequate travel insurance. More details on the FCDO website: gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice

You should never travel without travel insurance. There are a few things you should consider when you take out travel insurance:

You should take out travel insurance at the time of booking as it can also cover you for cancellation before you travel
You need to ensure that you are covered for the activities that you will undertake whilst on holiday (there are over 80 sports and activities covered at Club La Santa, so it’s best to ensure everything’s covered, just in case)

Here at CLUB LA SANTA UK we have partnered with Endsleigh to provide specialist sports travel insurance. For more information see HERE

NEVER PAY FOR A GHIC CARD. IT’S FREE. IF YOU ARE BEING ASKED TO PAY FOR IT THEN YOU ARE NOT ON THE CORRECT WEBSITE