British Foreign & Commonwealth Office information session report

SAN ROQUE (By e-mail from Phil Markham, of Jimena Real Estate) Having made prior contact with the Foreign & Commonwealth Office via their website (http://www.fco.gov.uk), I attended the well-advertised open session held at the Juan Luis Galiardo Theatre in San Roque on Thursday February 3rd. Prior to this day, interested persons are invited to forward their questions to the Consulate in Malaga, which I did by e-mail. Questions are  registered and a reply by e mail will be sent to the questioner, with confirmation of attendance. The seminar starts with a presentation by the three officers attending that day, which covers what all their responsibilities are and who they report too.Then they go through what questions have been asked and the areas these fall into. At this point a list is produced>

for interested parties to have a one-to-one session in private. Some of the areas covered are UK pensions, passport and identification issues (i.e. problems arising from the lack if photo ID cards, people losing their passports, or stolen). There has been, and was at this session, much call for the cards to be restored as passports are bulkier and Spanish law requires carrying identification at all times.  This would be passed on to the British Consul, Mr Giles Paxman. If copies of passports are carried they should be authenticated by presenting the passport and the copy to the Guarda Civil to be authenticated (compulsar, is the Spanish verb).

Other subjects covered were registration with social security, medical centres, transfer of UK pensions and Town Hall issues.

The staff were supplemented by the attendance of the Coordinador for Tourism at San Roque (Mr. Carlos Jordan) and the Country Welfare Officer, Spain, for the Royal British Legion, whose office is in the consulate in Malaga.

When the next seminar is arranged in the area it is well worth the effort going if anyone has an issues. Watch the web site http://www.fco.gov.uk .