2024-08-30 14:18:31
So I need to renew my certificate todayElectronic signature which (plan) allows you to complete many bureaucratic processes faster and online.
Ironically, this involves choice in humans.
If this is the first time I am applying for this electronic certificateshowing that I am a real person and not him bot duping the Spanish administrationit would be a justified step in the process. But innovation?
In any case, after having lived in Spain most of my life, I know how things go here. But you never cease to amaze me how the system works.
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When I entered my local government office, I was immediately greeted by a church official. “Wait! Do you have an appointment? (“Wait! Do you have an appointment before?”).
I replied that I did, thinking to myself that there was no way in hell I was going to waste my time waking up without one.
A half-sleeping civil servant Manning the other side of the door echoes city guard: “Do you have a before meeting?”
Again I confirm that I did. He then took out my name from a book and asked me to come and sit and wait my turn.
The guy walking right behind me didn’t say good luck. He doesn’t have a want And the two gatekeepers were happy to point to a sign that said it was necessary to make a decision beforehand and bring him out.
“I’m on vacation for the next two weeks, so I’m sure I’ll be able to do my book want online and come back again,” the man replied in agreement, almost bemused.
To be clear, this government building is empty. No lines of people, no keyboards, no loud phone conversations – it’s dead.
For a department dealing with standard bureaucratic tasks like mine, there are four desks with computers but only one civil servant (civil servant) work. 11 am on Thursday.
As I waited to see him, I heard a woman asking one of the gatekeepers if that was the place where they could do an embassy. The official replied that he “didn’t think so”, that he should try another government building, not this one, repeating that he “thought” it was another place. Anywhere but here.
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I remember all the times I was directed back and forth between the different city governments on opposite sides of the city, like on both sides of the gates trying to pass the money.
After a 15 minute wait, it was my turn. The city worker approached me and asked “Hi, do you have an appointment before?”. Again, I refuse.
As we both sat down, this was particularly chatty civil servant He asked how he could help while removing the notebooks and papers lying on his desk, adding that “my life is busy right now”.
“I need to renew my digital certificate, here is my TIE and my verification code,” I replied.
I’ve learned from experience that it’s always good to double check that Spanish officials have got your foreign surname right, also that the second name is not your first surname (as Spaniards have two surnames ), and if necessary, first slowly exit it. full name with phonetic alphabet.
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Trust me, it’s probably worth it. For a few months, the Spanish government had my middle name as “Pauel” instead of Paul.
Later, the official saw my address on his screen and exclaimed: “Ah! We have been neighbors!”
“Really? What an accident!”, I replied.
For the next 25 minutes, I learned a lot about Mercedes.
He told me about his recent move to a nearby beach village, he showed me photos of his new penthouse, I heard that it cost him a lot but he wanted to get his mortgage because he was a government official. , that you use. to wear stilettos but now she wants flip-flops, that her daughter has allergy problems.
I nodded and smiled, but inside I was flabbergasted.
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I thought about how many people we could see while Mercedes was telling me her life story, I remembered how hard it would have been for me to get a mortgage when I was self-employed, I wondered if the government officials had he doesn’t know yet. My wife’s strange confirmation after five years of waiting has the same work process as you.
Above all, I know – as I have done many times – that Spain’s public administration and army of minions is the worst thing about this wonderful country.
Millions of euros have been given to Spain by the EU for the “digital transformation” of the country. Have painful work routines become easier as a result? Not at all.
At the beginning of the year, the Spanish government proudly announced that it would do so scrap the mandatory before meeting (appointment requested), implemented during the pandemic but has remained in place for convenience since then, although it has been deemed illegal by countless lawyers. Are they really fired? A resounding no as they say in Spanish, a resounding No.
Something is very wrong with the state which allows its employees to have zero accountability while working for the public.
It is almost impossible for it works to be sacked. They are fully aware of that and do their jobs as they see fit, at their own leisurely pace and often without the necessary knowledge of their situation.
Not only that, they are rewarded with more holidays and general rights than private workers, and in the eyes of Spanish banks, they are really safe. journal (salary) makes applying for loans and deposits a piece of cake for them.
‘If you can’t beat them, join them’ is the attitude of millions of Spaniards who hate how the general administration works, but ends up it works themselves
I’ve had more unpleasant experiences with government officials before, and on this occasion, instead of wanting to point out to Mercedes that she was taking too long to do a very simple job, I found myself actually thinking that maybe new is new. ‘Friend’ can help me cut corners in the future.
In Spain, a “servant” is a civil servant to the person on the other side of the table.
It is something that all of us who live in Spain find out, sooner rather than later.
How about you? Have you had any real experiences with civil servants in Spain? Leave a comment below!
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