A Schengen visa is required for non-Europeans to travel to the EU or the Schengen area countries. However the EU has visa agreements with many non-EU countries for citizens of those countries to travel to the EU without a visa. While most developed countries have this type of visa-free travel between them, I was surprised to find that the EU allows visa-free travel from many developing countries as well. For example citizens of Brazil, can travel to the EU without a visa for short-stays like for tourism purposes. In fact, most of the countries in Latin and South America have visa-free travel agreements with the EU as the graphic shows below. These agreements are reciprocal in the sense that citizens of the respective EU country can also visit the other non-EU country visa-free. So EU citizens can visit Brazil visa-free.

Click to enlarge

Source: European Council and the Council of the EU

In the Middle East, UAE citizens can travel to the EU visa-free. Same goes for Malaysian citizens also.

One question that comes to mind is if Mexicans and other South Americans can go to the EU without a visa, why are they going there and stay there illegally instead of flooding into the US. Spain would be an obvious choice for Spanish-speaking countries due to the language and historical connections.