Play Your Cards Right

One of the oddities of life here is that, whereas the British seem to be generally against identity cards in their own country, they are quite happy to have one - in the form of a residency card - here. None of this worry about government data collection here, especially if the absence of a card can affect the availability of getting the resident's discount of local flights. Money talks, and many an expat wants his or her card back. Personally, I couldn't care less. Yes, it can be convenient, but I am one of those who is against cards of any form. Having said that, at a practical level, the residency card would have an advantage in that it would carry the holder's NIE number (this is the tax number and the number that grants you all manner of rights, e.g. to run a business, and is mandatory, unless you are one of those who tries to live here unregistered). The NIE is used for all sorts of things, and is something asked for in many different situations, so a card with the number would be useful. The certificate doesn't carry it, which seems a bit daft. Indeed, quite why the certificate was ever introduced doesn't make a lot of sense. But card, certificate, whatever, the thing that is really unacceptable is the sheer hassle involved with getting one of these bits of ID. I compare the situation here, with the tortuous faffing around at the police in Palma, to that in Germany. Go to the local town hall with passport and photos, fill in a form, get your residency there and then. Any town hall will do it. Not here. Oh no, Spanish bureaucracy is inefficient and an obstacle to creating effective registration. And then there are the jobsworths who man the desks in public offices. Thought the Brits were bad, they have nothing on the ones here who have simply never heard of the word "service". The fact is that you can get by with your passport. No, you can't get a discount for a flight to the mainland, but in many cases it will suffice.

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