Last thing I had to get – I hope – for my employment was the Spanish social security number or Número de la Seguridad Social. From all the formalities, this one went the smoothest. I just had to go to their office, there was no queue so I didn’t have to abuse my PSP again, and apply for the SS number by filling a form they hand out there and presenting the NIE, empadronamiento and passport, both originals and photocopies.

In order to enter the Social Security office, I had to go through a metal detector scan, which is new to me, as it never happened to any other public office I’ve been in Spain. The security guard was the only one who spoke English there, although he was the last person I would have expected to. He was kind enough to help me and with his guidance, I was able to get the número de la seguridad social in no time.

The funny thing is that now I can benefit from the Spanish social security system for, let’s say, healthcare, without having contributed a single dime to the system. Oh, the benefits of socialism…

I had to open a bank account today. I chose La Caixa – a very popular bank here in Barcelona. Mainly because it’s not a bank but a “caixa“. I don’t know any translation for this word in English, but it’s something like a non-profit bank ran by non-greedy bankers, which for me is a contradiction in terms. So I will stop thinking about what a caixa is, because if I don’t, my brain will explode. If you’re still curious about it, have a look at its Wikipedia entry.

Fortunately Meri – one of my flat mates – agreed to come with me to the bank’s office and act as a translator, so things went pretty smooth. I’ve opened a bank account, all the terms were pretty straight forward, no hidden taxes or fine prints. Not that I would be able to read Spanish fine prints. La Caixa offers self-services (ATMs / online) on a large variety of languages, that includes English and Romanian, which, for me, translates as “usable”.

Much to my surprise, the online service is based on a very distant relative of today’s Digipass. The system is like this: they hand out a card with some numbers on it, and when you login, the site asks for something like “please type in the number that is located on your card on line 4, column 5″. Kind of lame, less secure than the Digipass, but, no doubt, cheaper.

After getting the empadronamiento, the next logical step in order to live in Spain legally is to get a NIE or Numero de Identificación de Estranjeros. This number is required for just about anything in Spain: opening a bank account, working (legally ), renting a flat, a bike, or anything else that requires a legal contract.

Numero de Indentificación de Estranjeros

The most important thing you need in order to get the NIE is patience. And lots of it. There’s only one place where you can get the NIE in Barcelona and, as you can easily imagine, it’s always crowded. The office is located on Calle Balmes 192 (near the Diagonal subway station) and it opens at 9:00 am. I got there at 8:30 am and people were already queued, because the office closes at 2:00 pm sharp, and if you don’t get the NIE by then, you’ll have to come back another day.

In order to get the NIE you must bring your your passport / EU ID card and fill in a form they hand out there or you can download from the Spanish Minister of the Interior’s website here (note: the downloaded form is slightly different than the one they hand out there), so I think it’s better to use theirs and not print your own.

Although the empadronamiento is not officially required, I know that some people weren’t able to get a NIE without getting empadronado first. I think they sometimes ask for it because the empadroniamento is regarded as proof that one lives where he says he lives, and since that address also appears on the NIE, the need for the empadronamiento becomes somewhat obvious. Sometimes they ask for it, sometimes they don’t. I think it relies on the planets’ alignment or whether the clerk got laid or not the night before. Just play it safe and bring the empadronamiento with you. That’s what I did.

I took a number and sat on a chair, waiting to be called by the clerk. Queues are quite civilised in Spain, you just pick a number and wait to be called – unlike their Romanian counterparts that look like American Football matches. Although I was number 18, I had to wait about one hour until I was called by the clerk. After some formalities and some conversation in Spanglish I was handed some papers and told that I have to pay a fee for the NIE.

Paying the fee for the NIE

I went to the banks to pay a €10.10 fee. Why do I say banks? Well, unlike usual banks, the Spanish ones are not in a hurry to take one’s money. First I went to “La Caixa” (reads something like “la casha”) – which is a very popular bank in Barcelona. They only had an automatic machine that only works Visas issued by La Caixa. I thought this is quite stupid, but since I had an ING issued Visa card – thus being unable to use their machine – I had to move along. I went to another bank, called “Caixa Girona” this time, but I couldn’t pay the damned fee there either, because they said they only take those kind of payments in the morning, between 8 and 10 am. Or at least that’s what I understood, since the bank employee was speaking in Catalan. After trying 2 more banks in the vicinity, I finally ended up to Barclays where I could pay the fee. Note for the future: always go directly to Barclay’s when you need to pay government fees.

With proof of paying, I went back and stood in another line and finally got the NIE. I left the office at 11 something am. So it took me about 3h 30′. But, so far the score is me vs. Spanish bureaucracy 2 – 0.

As an expat, one of the first things you have to do after moving to Spain, after finding a place to live (obviously) is to get “empadronado“, which means to register with your local “padrón” or city hall. This is the first step one must take in order to live in Spain legally.

It’s very important for local Spanish authorities to know how many people live in their district – as they get funds from the central government based on number of people registered in their area – so you can go and get empadronado even if you’re an illegal immigrant. All applications are strictly confidential and they won’t use information from the empadronamiento to locate and deport illegal immigrants. This, of course, isn’t my case, since I’m a citizen of the European Union and I can live and work in Spain at will.

In order to get empadronado, you need to fill in a form which they’ll hand out at city hall, your passport / EU ID card and proof that you live where say you live. This usually means a renting contract with your name on it. But if you live in a shared flat, especially if you stay there for a short period of 2 – 3 months, it’s very unlikely that you’ll have a renting contract, because these things are handled in a somewhat clandestine manner. You just pay the rent – cash – and live there. If this is the case, you have 2 ways to get empadronado:

Talk to landlord about empadronamiento

There are some professional “room in shared flat renters” in Barcelona, namely landlords who own one on more apartments and rent them one room at a time to different people. Landlords like this might be willing to help you out with your empadronamiento. But sometimes, your flat-mates are the legal tenants of the flat and they’re sub-renting a room to you without any legal forms. In this case, talking to the landlord is a bad idea that might get all of you kicked out from the flat. So, what then?

Talk to a flat-mate who is already empradonado

If one of your flat-mates is already empadronado at that address, (s)he can come with you at the city hall and vouch for you. Same applies if you live with a friend. The only thing is that the voucher must be empadronado at that address in order to vouch for the vouchee.

I had the most complicated situation of all, since none of my flat-mates were empadronado there. But, one of them got empadronado, since his name was on the renting contract and afterwards he was able to vouch for me. I took us – combined – about 4 hours of waiting in line and 2 trips to the city hall.

Getting empadronado

After you have all your papers in order, you should go to the local ayuntamiento or city hall. Take a book or a newspaper with you, as you usually have to wait in line for something between one and three hours. A PSP will also come in handy And a Spanish conversation guide. Be prepared for total lack of English skills. If you have some Spanish speaking friends, ask one to join you. It will save you the frustration. I went with Aurelian as a translator and things went smooth.

Me vs. Spanish bureaucracy 1 – 0