Department of foreigners
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Some 40 years ago Mijas town hall launched a pioneering service, which no other council in Spain had at the time, a department of foreigners. The service was created to respond to the many administrative and bureaucratic issues, as well as the language barriers, faced by an increasing number of foreign residents at the time.
Today, Mijas has approximately 90,000 registered residents, almost 40% of whom are foreigners of 125 different nationalities. The vast majority of these are British, Scandinavian and German. With these figures, it does not come as a surprise that the department of foreigners is working at full capacity, four decades after it was launched.
Today, the department is responsible for helping and advising foreigners, facilitating their move to Mijas and helping them assimilate. It also works as a link with other municipal services, as well as with the public administration and other government groups.
According to the department, the number of consultations has been increasing every year due to the increase in the number of foreign residents in Mijas. In 2024 alone a total of 28,230 queries were answered. Of these, 9,580 were in person, 7,310 were via telephone calls and 11,340 by email.
The most frequently asked questions are on the payment of taxes and fees, direct debits, adding and deleting information from the municipal register, census certificates, doubts related to the NIE foreign identity number and residence permits for citizens from the United Kingdom, among others.
There are also questions related to text translations and interpreting services for women victims of gender violence, as well as more general questions about town planning, social services and the Andalusian health service, among others.
The department also has its own mailing list where more than 5,000 foreigners, homeowners' associations and social groups have registered for information in both English and Spanish. They also organise various activities, such as informative talks, collaborations with clubs and associations, an international trade fair, collaborations with consulates, language exchange workshops and the coordination of the Viogenex working group to assist foreign victims of gender-based violence.
The office is located in the Tenencia de Alcaldía de la Cala and is staffed by two employees who speak four languages: Spanish, English, French and German, and are available from Monday to Friday from 9am until 2pm by appointment.
"This municipal department does essential work in providing information and resolving queries. We will continue to work to ensure that the foreign population continues to be attended to quickly and efficiently," said councillor Mario Bravo.
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