ONE of the main reasons that many of the estimated 500,000 Britons who live in Spain do not register as residents is the country’s infamous bureaucracy.

Negotiating a way through the seemingly endless paperwork, not to mention a labyrinth of offices, to obtain a tarjeta de residencia (resident’s card) can seem too much for many who came to Spain for an easier life.

Part of the problem seems to be that Spain’s pen-pushers have not moved on very far from the era of General Franco. Much of the bureaucracy is still carried out on paper, with each piece requiring a separate stamp.

This, combined with trying to understand the language of officialdom, threatens to defeat many retired Britons and other foreign residents.

Some simply employ a gestor, or fixer, to do the job for them, preferring to save themselves the stress of negotiating the system.

Yet even if Spanish is your mother tongue, this does not always help. A survey by the Spanish magazine Tiempo found that it took young Spanish entrepreneurs an average of nine months to set up a company because of unnecessary red tape. The magazine said that Spain had one of the worst levels of bureaucracy when it came to forming a new business, putting it on a par with Botswana.

People in Spain are also held back is by the two-tier bureaucracy between central and regional governments. The regions traditionally are politically strong and enjoy a high degree of independence from Madrid. In practice, this means that two grades of civil servants process all types of government paperwork, slowing things down all the time.

There are moves by the present national Government to computerise most official records, but this may take a considerable time.

Meanwhile, those stressed-looking souls who appear to be camped out in the reception areas of Spain’s ministries will simply be foreigners battling their way through yet another official form.

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