NOISE POLLUTION
Dear Sir, FOLLOWING your reader's letter of 24th August re: noise pollution from young motorcyclists in Pollensa, I agree that it has increased dramatically over the past five years and now most of the old town with its narrow streets is a “no go” area for many residents and tourists.
What can be done? Very little! The Town Hall's attitude is that “they are only young once” and the local police have not the will or manpower to enforce the EU laws on excessive noise. So, until the authorities take a stand, the residents of Pollensa will have to put up with increasing noise from young aggressive teenagers on motor cycles.
J. Barlow, Pollensa
SPANISH IMMIGRATION
Dear Sir,
HAVE you seen pictures of the queues of immigrants awaiting residency papers in Majorca?
I sincerely expected that Spain, a European country with a proud history of civilisation would be able to treat these individuals with respect. By respect I mean a system of government based on regulations that is fair, understandable and implemented competently.
But my own recent experience has taught me that immigrants looking to live in Spain are still subject to incompetency and laziness of miserable and dishonest bureaucrats, sadly more reminiscent of the Franco era than modern Europe.
I am a New Zealand citizen, have lived in this country legally for more than six years, have a Spanish son, and was married to a Spanish woman. After my divorce was completed several months ago, I was required to change my residency status from a “Tarjeta familiar” based on my marriage (which was no longer valid as I am no longer married) to a “Permanent Residency” which I am entitled to for my length of stay in Spain. Up to there, all was fine. I registered the application, and was assured (verbally) that I could continue to work and live in Spain as I had applied for the change within the required time period. I happily applied for new jobs, found one that I liked very much, and after a series of interviews, was offered the position.
Unfortunately, that company was required to check my residency status, and upon doing so, retracted the job offer. Although the Extranjeria (Foreigners' Office) had verbally told me I could continue to live and work in Spain, it appears that until their incompetent staff finally approve my new residency card I am unemployable. If they employ me, and for some inexplicable reason my residency were to be declined, they could be subject to large sanctions. So now here I am, subject to the invisible movement of my application down some pile of papers, my life being passed from one bureaucrat's inbox to another, waiting for stamps to confirm a right to residency that should have been able to have been completed in less than five minutes given my situation. The process will take at least three to four months I am told.
And the icing on the cake? I went to the Extranjeria the next day to appeal the situation. Not only will they not issue me some provisional certification of my status, nor arrange any expediting of my case, but when I asked what I was meant to do until my new card arrived, I was told, BY A GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL, that I should simply continue to use my old card and lie to the companies about my marital status, i.e. not tell them I had been divorced.
Who can be surprised when immigrants become resentful and bitter towards Spanish government when they are treated with such contempt? I cannot imagine how many tens of thousands of lives are, like mine, on hold due to the mismanagement of this department. A department where dishonest, incompetent and lazy bureaucrats seek to enrich themselves and their cohorts by complicating processes and creating unnecessary delays and work in order to build fiefdoms and jobs for family and friends.
That is not Europe. It is third world cronyism and lawlessness.