NIE EX15 or Certificate of Residency EX18 ?

 My wife and I are visiting the Costa del Sol (Fuengirola area) for 5 months from October with a view to purchasing a property for use during the winter.  We understood that we need to apply for NIE numbers but when investigating this have now discovered that this has been replaced by the Certificate of Residency EX18 - a little confusing.  On our last visit in May of this year we opened a bank account and Non Residents Certificates were organised by the bank - does this count for anything?

Can someone please confirm which document we should be completing and submitting to the Spanish authorities?

Also can anyone advise on the type of evidence required to prove that we will not be dependent on the Spanish Health System as this now seems to be required (July 2012)?  Is  a British National Health card or European Heeath Insurance Card (EHIC) sufficient? Or indeed a Certificate of Travel Insurance which covers us for 62 days each trip?

Would appreciate some advice on these issues.

Thanks Geoff

EU Citizens Register,

Is that the same as a NIE?

NO is the simple answer. (I thought I had explained that in my last post)

However, if you have an NIE  (número de identidad de extranjero, foreigners  fical ID number)  and then register you keep the same number.

If you do not have an NIE when you register,  then you get a number which is also your NIE