Foreign Residents Urged to Do Their Bit to Keep Census Figures Current
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FREE COPY THE NEWSPAPER FOR The Costa’s SOUTHERN SPAIN future, in Official market leader Audited by PGD/OJD capable handss March 10th to 16th 2017 www.surinenglish.com A celebration of the area’s international News 2 What To Do 46 schools in our Education Comment 24 My Home 51 Lifestyle 26 Sport 55 & Learning supplement Food & Drink 36 Classified 61 INSIDE in English Health & Beauty 38 Pastimes 70 Residents from other EU dents from other EU countries, countries need to renew which - at least for the time being Foreign residents urged their registration on the - includes the thousands of Britons in Andalucía, are removed from the ‘padrón’ every five years ‘padrón’ register after five years if they do not confirm their details. The dive over the last couple of years This time limit is reduced to two to do their bit to keep in the foreign population, especially years in the case of non-EU citizens. the British, has led to fresh calls for The ‘exodus’ of British residents residents to make sure they keep from the statistics, therefore, does their census registration up-to-date. not necessarily imply an ‘exodus’ census figures current After a rule change in 2009, resi- from the country. P2&3 Demonstrators came together in Plaza de la Constitución in Rajoy joins calls Malaga to mark International Women’s Day. :: ÁLVARO CABRERA for a stronger, more integrated Europe The PM met with his French, Italian and German counterparts to discuss the EU’s future Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy stressed the need for greater and better European integration as he met leaders at a summit in Versailles earlier this week to ana- lyse the future of the EU after Brexit. He supported a multi-speed Europe and urged cooperation from several other countries. P22 German tourist numbers set to increase after THE FIGHT FOR “REAL EQUALITY” CONTINUES positive forecasts Tourism chiefs have been showcasing the region at Figures show that motherhood is still a major obstacle to women’s careers P18&19 the prestigious ITB travel fair in Berlin P12 SPORT Finca Cortesín golf Unicaja qualify for the course in Casares Míchel gets EuroCup semifinals crowned best in Europe after an epic win in according to leading down to business Bavaria against Bayern comparison website P12 as new Malaga Munich (74-69) P59 head coach Getting your life back Special Olympics through art. The Jorge The former Real Madrid Gibraltar sets sights on Rando Museum in Malaga man replaces Romero Games success as the is holding painting who won only one of his country’s sporting profile workshops for refugees P28 ten games in charge P55 continues to grow P58 :: ÁLVARO CABRERA 22222222 March 10th to 16th 2017 NEWS SUR IN ENGLISH Drop in Brits on town hall register is more complicated than just a ‘mass exodus’ JENNIE RHODES [email protected] The national statistics institute is working closely with town halls across the province to encourage foreign residents to register and renew when necessary MALAGA. An article published in SUR in English on 27 January re- ferred to an ‘exodus’ of British resi- dents from the Costa del Sol. The report quoted the most recent sta- tistics available regarding numbers registered on their local town hall’s ‘padrón’, or population census, how- ever the figures generated a num- ber of letters and comments from readers, highlighting the mixed messages that foreign residents have received from their local town halls. Residents who have been in Spain since before 2009 will proba- bly have been told that once they had registered on their local padrón, they did not have to update the in- formation. However others may have been told that they do need Brits enjoying a drink and the good climate in a beach bar on the Costa del Sol. :: SUR to update their details, anything between every two and five years. The ‘exodus’ headline came from 5,240 British people had been re- Antonio Requena Segovia, who the latest statistics released which moved from the padrón and that heads up the Malaga office of the revealed a significant drop in Brit- Residents from other The fall in the numbers 8,093 foreigners in total had been Spain’s Instituto Nacional de Es- ish people on the town hall regis- taken off across the whole of Malaga tadística (INE - national statistics ter, or padrón. EU member countries registered reflects not province. institute), confirmed to SUR in Eng- are removed from just those who have As the statistics predate Brexit, lish this week that since 2009, for- Data trends their local register left, but also those there is only anecdotal evidence of eign residents coming from other The institute releases data on the British people returning to the UK European Union member states country’s population at the begin- after five years if they who have died or due to fears over the consequences have been required to update their ning of every year and shows trends do not renew simply not renewed of the UK leaving the EU. details every five years. in Spanish nationals as well as for- According to Requena, who is Residents from non-EU coun- eign residents. based in the INE offices in Calle tries are asked to renew every two Malaga province is home to Puerta del Mar in the centre of years, in line with their residency Spain’s second largest British popu- Malaga, it is “impossible” to know papers. In both cases if they fail to lation after Alicante, with 49,526 all the reasons why people don’t up- do so, their names will be removed. registered in 2015. In total 239,810 date their details on their local coun- Previously, foreigners, like Span- Brits were registered as living in cil’s register. ish residents, were kept on the reg- Spain in the same year. “Many people naturally drop off ister permanently once they had The 2016 INE report, which the register because they die,” he registered. shows data from 2015, revealed that said. “Due to the fact that Malaga March 10th to 16th 2017 3 SUR IN ENGLISH NEWS Antonio Requena Segovia KEY PADRÓN MESSAGES Provincial head of the INE and census office in Malaga Do I have to renew? Since 2009 foreign residents have been “We want to convince asked to update their details on them that it’s their local town hall register every five years if they come from an- is home to many foreign pension- necessary for the may not have received their letters. other European Union member is “absolutely not true”. ers, one of the key factors in this services in a town” Antonio Requena said that dis- country, and every two years for While the police do have the right drop is, obviously, that people pass semination of information about non-EU residents. Prior to 2009 to consult town hall registers in the away.” the padrón “depends very much on this was not necessary. case of a foreign resident being ar- According to the latest INE sta- The head of the Malaga office of the town hall”. rested or involved in some way with tistics, the average age of a British Spain’s national statistics insti- “Some are very good at collect- Am I obliged to join the padrón a crime or incident, the information national living in Spain is 52, com- tute works closely with town ing the information and running by law? While registering on the doesn’t automatically get shared with pared with the average for all for- halls across Malaga to get up-to- campaigns and others are not,” he padrón is not a legal requirement, the police or any other body, other eign residents falling into the 30- date information about the num- added. anyone who uses municipal serv- than the INE. 44 age bracket. ber of foreign residents living in Malaga’s INE works very closely ices (doctors, rubbish collection, Town Hall foreigners’ departments the province. He and his team with the local councils across the schools etc) is strongly encouraged across the province have reported Impossible to track work with the local authorities province in order to collect the in- to be on it as they enjoy the bene- mixed foreign population fluctua- If foreign residents move to another and the British consulate in formation and to help them to ask fits of the services that town halls tions in recent months. Nerja saw 20 place in Spain and register with their Malaga to inform British citizens foreigners to register and renew. provide. new Britons moving into the town new town hall, they are automati- of why it is important to keep The INE chief insists that his team and registering on the padrón in Feb- cally taken off the previous padrón their registration up-to-date. is making sure that town halls keep What are the benefits? The ruary alone, according to the foreign- but do not disappear from nationalnal their registers up-to-date. However, more people on the padrón, the ers’ department, although the town statistics. he points out that the renewal proc- more funding a town hall is eligi- has seen an overall drop in the num- “Nowadays, technology iss very ess hhas only been in place for eight ble for to provide those services. ber of foreign residents. advanced and we can keep track yearsyears and if people are only con- Town halls also offer benefits to Joanna Drozdowska, who works of people who move withinithin tactedtacte every five years it will take residents in the form of discounts at the foreign residents’ office in the country.