Introduction

Foreign residents and visitors to Spain find that Embassies and Consulates provide an important link to their homeland. They represent the interests of their subjects and provide assistance in many different ways.

For Spaniards and foreign residents too, a local focal point is the ayuntamiento (town hall) invariably situated in the main square of each village, town or city and easily spotted by national flags flying outside.

Schools have, in the main, good academic reputations with multi-language opportunities. The state health service is excellent with standards improving all the time.

Goods move freely within the EU with Andorra, Gibraltar and Morocco providing additional opportunities for duty-free shopping.

The consumer is well protected as all businesses are required by law to keep a complaints book or complaints forms (libros/hojas de reclamaciones) which must be produced on demand. And there is the Oficina Municipal de Informacion al Consumidor (OMIC), defending a customer from unscrupulous suppliers.

British Embassy And Consulate

The British Embassy has overall responsibility for representing and promoting the UK in Spain. The consular section provides services for British citizens in Spain and visas for those who require them to travel to the UK. The British Consulate General in Madrid is the issuing authority for all UK passports and visas in Spain. Other British Consulates in Spain can issue emergency passports, valid only for a one-way journey to the UK. The Madrid Consulate registers the births and deaths of British citizens resident in or visiting Spain.

Application forms for passports and visas are available by post or to personal callers, or can be downloaded direct from their website on www.ukinspain.com . The site also offers information on subjects ranging from timeshares to travel information.

The Consulate can:

• Issue emergency passports (see Chapter 2).
• Contact friends and relatives to ask them to help with money and tickets.
• Supply information on a number of topics.
• In an emergency, cash a sterling cheque up to £100 if supported by a valid banker’s card or as a last resort give a loan to get someone back to the UK.
• Help with local lawyers, interpreters and doctors in the case of death.

The Consulate cannot:

• Intervene in court cases or get someone out of prison.
• Give legal advice, start court proceedings or investigate a crime.
• Pay travel costs, hotel, legal, medical or any other bills.
• Find a person somewhere to live, a job or a work permit.
• Formally help a person with dual nationality where the second nationality is Spanish.

The Town Hall

To the ordinary Spaniard politics start and stop at the ayuntamiento (town hall). Situated in the Plaza Mayor of each village, town or city the building is bedecked with a national flag together with flags of the Comunidad and the Province signifying its importance as a focus in everyday life. The town hall is the home of the Municipio, a council headed by a mayor (alcalde) and a number of councillors (concejales) all of whom are elected.

The ayuntamiento is responsible for keeping the streets clean, collecting garbage, street lighting, water supply and sewerage, roads, cemeteries, schools, planning, parks, libraries, markets, social services, fire prevention and public sports facilities. It is where local taxes are paid, licences are issued, applications for building permits are lodged, the right to vote is granted and births, marriages and deaths are recorded.

Signing On The Padron

A foreigner’s first encounter with the ayuntamiento will probably be to register as a new resident of the town and consequently be allowed to stand and vote at elections.

• Visit the town hall with a passport and evidence of residing in the town (copia simple or escritura or residencia)
• Complete some details. Provided more than six months each year is spent residing in the municipality and the individual is not registered in another municipality at the same time, you will now be on the census of inhabitants residing in the area administered by that ayuntamiento.
• An Empadronamiento Certificate (census registration certificate) is issued.

 

Not everyone wishes to vote. Who are the candidates? What do they stand for? An EU citizen signing on the padron is entitled to vote in local elections and can be elected to office. They can also vote for their local European parliamentary representative or again stand for office. One per cent of councillors in coastal regions are foreigners. The only additional qualification is to speak Spanish.

One method of communicating with the ayuntamiento is to present a request or complaint in writing which will be stamped recibido (received) on presentation and must be acted upon in a reasonable period of time.

The greater number of people registered on the padron, the greater funds received from regional government.