Thanks everyone for all of the interesting responses! We (the spouse and I) are actually retiring this year and are not looking to relocate, so as someone else mentioned, using any of the other visa options to stay beyond 90 days just seems like a lot of hassle. We are altering our plans accordingly...

Many thanks for your response. It gave me the nudge I needed to do some research and has confirmed that I don't qualify for any of the long term visas, and that we will just alter our plans for Spain to stay within the 90 day guidelines...

I am just trying to find out more about Schengen visas and what I might need. My spouse has an Irish passport, I have a British passport and we live in the UK. We are looking to visit Spain in September for a week or so in order to look for a short term let for the winter - 3 months or more. However...