Spain–United Kingdom Relations

In the present day, Spain and the United Kingdom maintain civil relations, both being members of NATO, and the OECD. They share a number of regulations due to their previously shared membership of the European Union, several of which remain in force in the UK after its exit from the bloc. The 2001 UK Census recorded 54,482 Spanish-born people living in the UK. In comparison, it is estimated that 990,000 British-born people live in Spain. Of these, according to the BBC and contrary to popular belief, only about 21.5% are over the age of 65. In 2011, Spanish migration to the UK went up 85%. As for 2012, it was recorded that 69,097 Spanish-born people live in the United Kingdom. On the other hand, in the same period 397,535 British-born people were living in Spain. Following Brexit, Trade between the United Kingdom and Spain is governed by the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement since 1 January 2021. At the 1817 London Conference, the British pressured the major European colonial powers, including Spain, to agree to abolish the slave trade. Under the agreement, Spain agreed to end the slave trade north of the Equator immediately, and south of the Equator by 1820. British naval vessels were given the right to search suspected slavers. Despite overwhelming British naval supremacy, the trade continued. In 1835, the Anglo-Spanish agreement on the slave trade was renewed, and the rights of British captains to board and search Spanish ships were expanded. Mixed British-Spanish commissions were established at Freetown and Havana. Vessels carrying specified 'equipment articles' (including extra mess gear, lumber, foodstuffs) were declared prima facie to be slavers.