Posted by If you are Moving to Spain or are already living in Spain then you will need to deal with the mountains of paperwork that seems to be a way of life here in Spain.
As you may know from my posts I personally hate the mostly unnecessary amounts or papers you need when moving to Spain and in daily life here. There are things that you can do though to make it less stress full and tips i have found along the way to get things done quicker.
First off if your Spanish is not that good pay someone who speaks Spanish to go with you, even if it seems like it will be a simple process as most times it will turn out that you need more than you think or the papers you need have changed.
secondly take a good book as there is always a Que or a waiting room and if its important papers you need the waiting room will be full.
Now heres a personal tip that has helped me and saved many hours.
Be friendly as possible with the person you are asking papers from. ie. just a few months ago I needed to go to the local government planning office to ask permission for a project. There was a nice lady that was at first a little cold when i asked where i could find out about getting what i needed but i tried very hard to be friendly and finally she directed be to an office down the corridor to get what i needed.
A few days later i had to go back to the same place and speak to her again regarding another mater and again i was very friendly and polite and she helped me again.
Then yesterday my wife and I returned yet again to this office wanting another department but the desk was busy so we saw the lady sitting near there that had helped us before so said hi and could she tell us if she knew where the building inspectors office was as we needed a special paper and permission. She got up and said come with me, we walked down a long corridor to this small office that we would never of found and she introduced us to the guy we needed to see and he sorted us out fast. Now if we had not been friendly to her all those previous times i am sure she would not have been so inclined to help us and we would have been lost and waiting a long time.
These offices are all very much alike and the work looks very boring so if you just try to be a little friendlier they do remember you and can go out of their way sometimes to help you.
Living in Spain collecting files of paperwork just for daily life here is a part of life here but you do get use to it and it can be easier if you start to build up a friendship or just be very friendly to these people as they will probably be in your life in the near future.
Have you found it easy to get all the papers you need here in Spain?
Living and Working In Spain 