Spanish bureaucracy, eh? Doesn't it get on your nerves? What with annual tax declarations, IBI, traffic fines, bank security and banking charges, it's a wonder we put up with it and continue to live here!
[Youtube]
But, my latest confrontation with bureaucracy really bites!
Animals
Well, we know we're supposed to get our pets "chipped" and treated for everything from ticks to rabies, but my latest confrontation with bureaucracy bit me hard ..... Literally.
One of our cats got a claw caught in the cat flap. Amid Fritzi's screaming and yelling I tried to free her, whereupon she sunk her teeth into the palm of my left hand. Out of fear, I guess.
Anyway, I got her free, but I was bleeding like a stuck pig. I washed it thoroughly under cold running water and my ex-nurse wife put a sterile lint pad on it and taped it up. This was Thursday.
By Saturday I was in some pain, so, surgeries closed, I went to the chemist's where a kind young pharmacist had a look, cleaned it up and put a proper dressing on it.
Come Tuesday it was still hurting, so I went to the doctor. She treated the wound, which by now was full of pus. I was given a tetanus jab and a course of antibiotics.
"I am obliged to report this to the veterinary authorities," she told me. "They will send a vet to your house to check you and the cat out."
[Touchwood Pharmacy]
Within a few days the vet came, checked the cat's documentation and filled out a load of paperwork.
Imagine my surprise this week when I received a registered letter with a bill for 84 euros for the privilege of this 20 minute visit!
Excuse me, shouldn't this be free-of-charge? THEY wanted to monitor the situation, not me!
Well, I've paid the bill now. No point in complaining.
Conclusion
Look, along with smoking, litter and guardia civil trafico, I am not deterred from living for the rest of my days here in Andalucia. I'll just have to grin and bear it and keep paying the fines and the fees.
© Pablo de Ronda
Pictures:
Touchwood Pharmacy, YouTube
Tags:
antibiotic, banking charges, bank security, bureaucracy, cat, cat flap, chemist, claw, Fritzi, IBI, Pablo de Ronda, Paul Whitelock, pharmacist, rabies, sterile, tax declaration, tetanus, tick, Touchwood Pharmacy, traffic fine, vet, veterinary, YouTube