Navigating administrative procedures in Spain

@Cheryl

Administrative procedures in Spain are not so complex  - in fact they are extremely logical with plenty of official online help to guide you, but you have to understand the Spanish language. If you don't, use a gestoría or a Spanish speaking friend. My advice is to always use the official Hacienda, Seguridad Social, Extranjería, etc. websites where you will find the facts. If you just Google it you will find too many different interpretations and opinions

@jchilton

Hello,

This is very helpful as I found over the last two years googling Admin/legal questions is a bad idea!

You don't get concise answers and you get a glossy view.

Very quickly I started to use and signed up for UK gov alerts and pulled info from there.

I am in the UK so of course I chose what was applicable to me.

I agree Spain are very straight in what they want, it's just the time you want it in.

Regards

@duguidn79

I would not solely rely on the UK Gov site. I would get the information from the Spanish government.

After applying for (and receiving) Spanish citizenship, my advice to anyone dealing with significant Spanish bureaucracy is to  (a.) have patience and (b.) use a gestor or attorney - even if you're fluent in Spanish.

My latest bureaucratic journey was to fix an incorrect phone number on my eDNI. After 2 years of trying and trying, I was told by a helpful and friendly staffperson at the police/DNI office to give up and wait until my DNI expires. Subsequently, I found out that 60% of Spaniards are unable to use the eDNI system due to bugs!

I was advised to use a gestoría to apply for my Spanish state pension but decided to try on my own. They already have all your work and seg.social contributions details so all I needed was to book an appointment and take the downloaded application form, my TIE and my libro de familia. Went like a dream.

As for citizenship, my sons applied for it themselves - during COVID - and for them it was very straightforward having been born and educated in Spain (no Cervantes, no notarised and apostilled birth certificates, etc.) But I was born in UK and they wouldn't accept the notarised birth certificate I used when I was married in Spain with the excuse I might have changed sex since then! At which point I decided the hassle wasn't worth it

@jchilton The true face of Spain is in their bureaucracy. Downright nasty.