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View Full Version : Government Offices - always a good place to hear a funny story



chifleta
26-04-2012, 19:04
I know most of you have probably see this video before, but I thought i'd post it for any newbies to learn a lesson or two (things you need to get used to living in Tenerife/Spain) :tiphat:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXWZ3uAEKsw

Me and OH went to the Registro Civil this morning, we're getting married next year, after being engaged for 20 years :laugh: so we thought we better start organising paperwork ASAP, as those of us that live here know that these things take time. Mind you, I can't believe I was actually shocked that the office was only open from 10am till 1pm, I shouldn't be surprised any more should I?¿

Anyhoo, whilst stood in the queue, I started chatting with a nice lady from mainland Spain, she had a hilarious story of why she was there. She was there to register her marriage, which in itself isn't very unusual, apart from the fact that she was in the middle of getting a divorce, but apparently her marriage had never been registered by the Cura (vicar) where she got married (which apparently years ago, this was part of his job). So to get divorced she had to prove that she was married, and like she said to the lawyer "if i'm not registered as married, then i'm not married, so why pay for a divorce?¿" ... of course, it doesn't work like that LOL so there she was, wasting her day off stood in the queue along with the rest of us.

Oh, funnily, i'd forgotten to ask "quien es el ultimo" (who is the last person), but as this lady had arrived just after us, I knew at least that I was before her in the queue :spin: ... something for you newbies to remember, the locals don't queue like us Brits... they arrive, say "quien es el ultimo" and whoever says "yo" just stand behind them when the doors open for you to grab your number/ticket to wait in "line" .... but in the meantime you just hang around wherever you want, remembering to keep an eye on who is the person immediately before you when you finally have to queue.... it's great fun :nono:

In the end, we were in and out within 30 mins, armed with instructions for OH (Canarian) and for me (Brit), also we popped next door in the Juzgados and were directed to a "tecnico" so that I could leave my birth certificate for translation etc, so that was handy, saved me a journey to a notary. Next stop, phone call to the Consulate to see if I have to go up there :dontknow:

It took me 14 years, but i've got the pateince of a saint now...... ok I'm lying :neener:

finca18jrl
26-04-2012, 19:29
How true is that! Only possible to laugh when you see it put like this! Brilliant!

cainaries
26-04-2012, 19:47
Chifleta ... is this office open EVERY WEEKDAY from 10.00 - 13.00 - if so you are lucky. There is an Ayto we have to deal with where they close on Wednesdays. When we asked why they'd started shutting on Wednesdays they said it was because the staff were very stressed out. From taking full pay and working what, to us, would be part-time. Good luck with sorting out all your paperwork.

chifleta
26-04-2012, 21:01
Chifleta ... is this office open EVERY WEEKDAY from 10.00 - 13.00 - if so you are lucky. There is an Ayto we have to deal with where they close on Wednesdays. When we asked why they'd started shutting on Wednesdays they said it was because the staff were very stressed out. From taking full pay and working what, to us, would be part-time. Good luck with sorting out all your paperwork.

ohhhhh I didn't notice, it's great isn't it, if they're stressed, they probably can imagine how we feel LOL... luckily it all sounded fairly straightforward what we need to do, get all the bits off the list she gave us (I need to ring the consulate to see if I have to pay a visit there ughhh which is a pain as I don't drive and OH hates driving to S/C (prolly cause I take full advantage to traipse round the shops or go to Alcampo... needs must hehe) ..... then we need to go back, queue again, get our number so we can show them all our paperwork so they can check it's all correct, whereby they will give us a proper appointment for another day, so that we can "officially" present the documentation we've just shown her.... I was going to say "go figure" but when I thought about it, it's probably not a bad system as it makes sure we don't go through the youtube video sketch that I posted :bolt: