A BRITISH expat has branded post-Brexit rules ‘his worst nightmare’ after a birthday present of his favourite treats from the UK was banned from entering the country. 

Mike Battle, 41, was left stumped when he heard his package of goodies had been held up by customs in Madrid for over TEN days. 

The gift, sent from his family, via courier company Fedex, contained crisps and spice mixes – but Mike never got to unwrap them. 

The parcel, valued at around €20, was deemed unacceptable by customs chiefs and returned to Mike’s mother in Leeds. 

“It was confirmation of my worst nightmare when it comes to receiving anything from the UK,” Mike told the Olive Press. 

“Before Brexit it was the same as receiving deliveries from around the corner, now receiving products from the UK is just as difficult as from China,” continued Mike, who has lived in Spain for 27 years, currently in Malaga. 

“There is supposed to be a trade agreement in place, but no-one knows exactly what that agreement is – just as no-one knew exactly what Brexit was when they voted for it,” added the businessman, who recycles electronic products.

It comes as fuming Brits across Spain have taken to social media to blast the new rules over what can and can’t enter the country 

Last month Olive Press broke the story that guards at the Gibraltar-Spanish border confiscated a furious expat’s Nando’s Peri-Peri sauce under new Brexit rules. 

Joseph Lathey, 27, a Brit who works in Gibraltar but lives in Spain, said was left fuming when much of his weekly shopping was binned as he tried to cross into La Linea.

“I was completely stumped. I had a chicken which I thought might have been stopped but not the Peri-Peri sauce,” Lathey told the Olive Press. 

“The officials said it contained onion puree, meaning it contained processed veg and was therefore not allowed over. 

“I said that that was ridiculous as that would mean most of my shopping would also not be allowed in.” 

The EU now classes the UK as a third country, bringing in tougher controls on what can and cannot cross the border into the bloc. 

A spokeswoman from Fed-Ex told the Olive Press: “Food and Beverage are included among our prohibited items for international shipments.”

Any perishable foodstuffs requiring refrigeration are prohibited, as well as a specific restriction for Spain for other foodstuffs, including olive oil.

She added: “These restrictions are in place for any third country outside the Community Customs Territory, and now they apply to UK as well since it left the EU”. 

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