06 Jan 2012 12:35 AM:

 I got mine in May of last year here in Malaga.

I can also report it was extremely easy, with no sign of the huges queues mentioned on various websites.

I went one day, queued for about 5-10 mins max, took the various forms. Filled them out in a cafe nearby, then went to the bank, handed over a few Euros and got my form stamped.

Queued again for 2-3 mins, handed the form over, got told to return 'on Friday' (it was Tuesday if I remember rightly).

I returned that Friday, didn't queue at all, showed them my forms and got given an A4 sheet of paper with the NIE code in the middle.

Pretty easy. It required a little bit of Spanish, but nothing too complex.

 

A few months later I did a similar thing to get the little green residents card. That was also pretty straightforward, and didn't involve much queueing.

 

One thing to note, here in Malaga at least, there was a really long queue at the police station I went to. However, it was for something different (visas for those coming from South America/marriage licences/or something). The point being that there was nobody at the police station to tell me the I didn't need to be in this queue. It was only after standing around for a few moments that I went to the front of the queue and was quickly waved past into the police station and towards a different room. To sum it up, there was a bit of confusion.... but at least now as I write in 2012... the demand for getting an NIE in Malaga seems minimal, takes 2-3 days, and doesn't involve anymore queuing than you would do in a Post Office for example in the UK.

Thread: NIE MADE EASY

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06 Jan 2012 12:28 AM:

 It will be fascinating to see where this goes through 2012.....

Another change of 10-20% in the next 6-8 months seems feasible.

Right now all my wealth is in pounds, whilst my living costs are paid out in Euros (which is probably the same for most of those on this site!)... really nice to have your living costs drop without any effort on your part :)

Thread: Sterling v Euro.

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04 Jan 2012 8:45 PM:

So The Times and The Telegraph both picked it up then.

I really don't think it's anything to be too worried about. If cival war breaks out and anarchy is upon us, then yes it makes a bit more sense. But that simply won't happen, either Germany will leave the Euro or the ECB will resort to the dreaded QE and 'Eurobonds' in exchange for a far tighter integrated Euro zone.

I think it's an exciting time to be here. A far weaker Spanish currency would help those living here and funding their lifestyle through UK earnings.

Thread: Expats to be 'rescued' from Spain and Portugal!!!!

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04 Jan 2012 7:44 PM:

 I remember seeing this article as well. In fact it was the leading headline on the The Times app, well for a minute or two at least, as when I looked for it a few minutes after it had totally disappeared!

I think it was a case of a young journalist desperate for a story, who heard someone mention an evacuation plan, then decided to blow it up into a story.

Clearly the UK government in this day and age of health and safety have 'emergency plans' for just about every eventuality (including London being taken over by aliens I'm sure).

Realistically though it's ridicolous. Brits at the airport unable to buy flights home as they can't get cash from the machines. Don't they realise that people buy plane tickets online, and direct from a UK or Irish company.

It made me laugh though, clearly journalists and government emergency planners with far too much free time on their hands!

Like the other posters have said, with riots last summer and endless stabbings in London, I'll think stay and take my chances here!

Thread: Expats to be 'rescued' from Spain and Portugal!!!!

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04 Jan 2012 12:00 AM:

I'm new here so thought I would introduce myself as per the forum title suggests....

I've been living in Malaga since June 2010, originally from Northamptonshire I came here to enjoy a more interesting and warm life than is available in the UK. So far so good, 19 months in, and my Spanish (whilst not exactly amazing) is definitely in the intermediate zone (I hadn't studied the language previous to 2010).

My main reasons for joining the forum are to help others who might be in an earlier stage than me (for example are still without NIE/residency card/bank account etc), and also to try and gain advice from others here who have more experience in other areas (for example health cover/taxes/buying cars).

I live in Malaga city, so can give advice to anyone seeking it about the various neighbourhoods here.

Nice to meet you all,

Oli

Thread: Hey everyone!

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