Labor minister: Spain to remove visas for Romanian workers

Spanish authorities plan to modify the labor legislation and remove visas for Romanian citizens working there, who will only need work permits, Romanian Labor minister Gheorghe Barbu said on Monday. The Spanish Embassy to Bucharest announced earlier this year that Romanian citizens planning to work in Spain for more than six months would need visas.

On January 18-20, Barbu attended an informal meeting of EU social affairs ministers in Berlin. He raised the issue during talks with his Spanish counterpart.

By the end of 2006, prior to the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the EU, the government in Madrid decided to restrict the access of Romanian and Bulgarian workers on the Spanish market for a period of maximum two years.