travelling with my EU partner

[afritalia]

I just got back from holiday in Spain & italy.
Not my first time in europe i was in Malaga last year in May & was also in Barcelona this past bank holiday in May.
I travelled with my EU partner as I have a resident card, issued here in England about 2 years ago.I have never had a problem entering or leaving Spain.
Im from South Africa & she is Italian.
This past trip I was stamp in Sicily and then after a week we flew to Malaga.
On our exit from Malaga, back to London we were stopped by border staff cos they said that I needed a Schegan Visa to be in Spain.I told them im travelling with my partner and they asked me if we were married? I said no, we are unmarried partners...then he asked for proof to show him, that we were together and i said well that resident card is the proof...but then i remembered I had brough a bill for our council tax, as I did a payment online whilst on holidays.I gave him the document.They took our passports, he called his superiors and he typed something in the system...At this point out flight was boarding.
I said to him, can you please explain I was in malaga last summer & i was in Barcelona this spring and I have been stamped but nobody has ever asked me these questions and if there was a problem, how come nobody has ever mentioned anything to me....he said the rules could have changed from last year, but in that case, how can the airlines let me board and how come upon arriving italy i didnt have this problem..
His co-worker also made it clear I needed Schegan, but once again my argument was, look I have arrived twice in Spain and I have never had this problem.
On my first trip to Spain, I carried all my directive documents in spain that i printed out on the net, but I realised that I never have a problem so I didnt bother to cary them anymore...We just made the flight, but he said I might be stopped if I decide to come to spain again, unless i have a schegan.We love going to Spain cos the weather and planning a trip in August, but I have been back almost a week and this situation still bothers me.I went on the Spanish visa embassy website and it clearly states that Resident Card holders can travel with their partners.
Any advice on what to do with this situation?
Thanks

[ca.funke]

You may legally go to Schengen without visa. The embassy confirms this, and you were effectively never denied. All that happened is that you got stuck with uninformed borderguards, which is something that (unfortunately) occurs from time to time.

If you read (for example) >>this thread<< you will see that this is (again unfortunately) normal.

So your question

Any advice on what to do with this situation?

• • can only be answered with a counterquestion: What do you want to achieve? Once we learn that, maybe the forum can help...

By the way:

...he said the rules could have changed from last year...

• • He´s correct - they "could have" changed. But they didn´t, at least not within the last year. Clear case of insufficient training of the staff.

[EUsmileWEallsmile]

....he said the rules could have changed from last year...

Utter nonsense, the rules have not changed.

[afritalia]

Hi so my partner and are planning a trip to spain again in september.I had problems with uninformed guards last year and this year i want to be prepared. My research thus far shows for married couples, I guess it's easy to convince the airlines staff and then the border guards by showing their marriage certificate. But unmarried(myself) & straight couples living in UK don't have much to show(apart from joint account bills etc). Can you please advise me as to what could I take this time to proof im a family member of an EEA national & we not married although we have been together 9 years.Last year in MAlaga they told me i needed a visa before boarding although I had entered through sicily with no problems.And the weird thing is last year i entered Barcelona no problem and Malaga the previous year...Regards

[mick5]

afritalia I've been so many European countries without visa with my partner iam sailing on a same boat as you are iam not married but living with my girl friend from past 7 years she is polish and i from asia. i've been stopped in Corfu (Greece) when i was coming back to London i was boarding on Plane airline staff who check last time you passport and boarding card stopped me to ask that how i enter in Corfu i showed her my Corfu entry stamped on my passport then she said you have to see our Immigration office i went to officer she asked me are you married i said no she saw my passport and said then how you got this Residence permit on you passport i said because we are living together from long time she said ok.
Month and half ago i went to Madeira (Portugal) for a week i had Schengen visa but officer told me you do not need visa. same In January this year i went to Fuerteventura (Spain) with Schengen visa same answer you do not need visa.
But just to be on a safe side i would say better to have visa they are the boss they can stop you if they want to. Iam going for 2 week in September to Majorca i just got a visa last week i dont want to argue at the airport.
Spain Schengen visa took only 3 days if you submit all documents.
to have visa its peace of mind that's what i've learn because you cant argue with them they can refuse you to enter.

[moroni]

....he said the rules could have changed from last year...

Utter nonsense, the rules have not changed.

A little Off Topic, a friend of mine from New Zealand, married to a British citizen, wanted to spend some time in Spain. She was looking about information of how to legally work there and I told her about the Directive 2004/38/EC. She went to the foreign police station and they said this does not applies to her since her husband didn't have a registered address in Spain. They tried to make a registration of her husband, British citizen, but the police told her that "rules have changed" and "we don't make registration of EU citizens anymore".
Seems that it's a pretty normal excuse(?) in Spain for the ignorance of the rules.

[EUsmileWEallsmile]

In order to exercise treaty rights in Spain, an EU national needs to be a worker, student or self-sufficient person (in line with the directive). If that requirement is met, then a non-EU family member can work. The rules did change in Spain, previously they were more generous than the directive. It is possible that there was a local misunderstanding.