Quote Originally Posted by johncar54 View Post
My wife has permanent Residencia in Spain (so can visit and live in any Schengen Area country) but she cannot go to UK or even shopping in Gibraltar unless we go first to British Embassy in Madrid, pay 150 euros and she attends an interview.

So don't feel so bad about needing a Schengen Area visa. I would expect that it would be quite a straightforward application.
You know that your wife can have for free an EEA family permit to travel to UK?
I am a British citizen. Can my family members apply for an EEA family permit to join me in the UK?
Although the UK is also a member of the EEA, the information in this guidance does not, in general, relate to British citizens and their family members.
If a British citizen is living in another EEA country, their non-EEA family members can apply for an EEA family permit to join them on their return to the UK. This is subject to the following conditions:

  • The British citizen is residing in an EEA Member State as a worker or self-employed person or was doing so before returning to the UK.
  • If the family member of the British citizen is their spouse or civil partner, they are living together in the EEA country or they entered into the marriage or civil partnership and were living together in that EEA country before returning to the UK.
  • The family member is lawfully resident in the EEA country where the British citizen is working.

Read here: http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/howtoap...snationals#Q13