Never-ending paperwork

As most non-tourists living in Spain quickly discover, the red tape that plagues this country can be very frustrating. Since I've already been here for more than 5 months, you would think I had everything all worked out. However, as Erin, another language assistant here in Rota, found out a few days ago, it's all very confusing!

The reason we were worried about our documentation in the first place is that everyone else that we know in the program (both Americans and Canadians) received a temporary Spanish identity card with their photos and fingerprints on them), as well as their NIE numbers (official identity number for foreigners)... and we have no such thing!

Since Erin is heading back to the States for a week at the end of February, she is especially worried about her paperwork, because it will affect whether or not she is allowed back into Spain when she returns. It's not as big of an issue for me, since most of my future travel plans don't involve leaving the European Union, but if I want to go to Morocco sometime, I want to be sure I'm able to come back to Spain.

So last week, Erin went to the police station to confirm that our paperwork was all valid and complete. Unfortunately, she talked to a different woman than we had been dealing with all along, and as this is Spain, that meant she got completely different information. The woman gave her all these instructions, and said that she had to request special permission to leave Spain. Little did she know, the woman heard her accent when she spoke Spanish, and assumed Erin was from somewhere in South America. A few days later when Erin returned to the police station, she spoke with the right woman, who told her she didn't have to do anything and that the documents we have are in fact valid. This just goes to show how a little misunderstanding can cause a lot of hassle.

Apparently the system is undergoing some changes with identity cards - they are modernizing them and installing microchips in them. So to avoid a little work, we were given papers instead of identity cards, but both work for our situation. The second woman told Erin that if we would have just asked for the cards at the beginning, we could have worked something out, but that they are really not necessary as long as we bring all of our paperwork with us when we travel!