[Anonymous]

Just lately, there’s been a lot of publicity about the number of British expats living overseas and Spain is the Number 2 destination.
Now the Foreign office is advising emigrating people to take measures to ensure that they can access all of the services that the Spanish offer; the main one being health care.
Apparently British Consuls etc. in Spain are being inundated with appeals for help from British born elderly residents who seem to have no idea of how to help themselves in times of need when most of them are far from family and friends in the UK.
The main cause of this isolation appears to be the almost total lack of knowledge of the Spanish Language.
In view of that, I wondered how others have coped in Spain and whether you’ve found any particular websites or help desks in Spain or the UK so that you can gain the information that you require.
I realise that there is a wealth of information on this site for starters but I’d like to hear from anyone who has found a route through the quagmire of Spanish bureacracy. I’m also fully aware that it is essential to learn the language and I fully intend to improve on my tourist Spanish in the near future.
Thanks in anticipation, stevmk2

[Anonymous]

I have lived in Spain for 16 years and I believe that I have experienced just about every bureacratic procedure in the book.

However, the term quagmire is unfair.

Spanish bureacracy is better described as a winding path. It is slower and less direct than the UK – but there is a logic and anybody can get to their destination with a little patience and application.

Progress along the path is, of course, greatly aided by knowing some Spanish.

[Anonymous]

I have lived in Spain for 16 years and I believe that I have experienced just about every bureacratic procedure in the book.

However, the term quagmire is unfair.

Spanish bureacracy is better described as a winding path. It is slower and less direct than the UK – but there is a logic and anybody can get to their destination with a little patience and application.

Progress along the path is, of course, greatly aided by knowing some Spanish.

[Author]

Posts