Editorial: Get registered

SO how many Britons live in Majorca or Spain for that matter? Now, we all know what the official figures say, the British population in the Balearics is about 18,000. But I suspect that the official figures do not really paint an accurate picture. There are far more British residents on the islands, I think you can safely say that the figure is probably double the 18,000 or even higher. For a number of reasons some British residents do not want to be registered, they prefer to remain annoymous and off the radar.  This is their decision but they are missing out on a wide range of free services. Also, the “missing thousands”causes problems for the local authorities and even the British Government. Local councils need to know how many residents they have in their municipality so that they can organise their services accordingly. The British Government needs to know how many British citizens live abroad so that they can strengthen or reduce consular manpower.  And also if the authorities want to find you, they will do so. So at the end of the day if you live in Majorca it is far better to be registered and part of the system. The days when you could simply disappear off the radar are long gone. I know many expats who say that they do not want to rock the boat and don´t really want to get involved and have their names on official documents. This is a thing of the past. It is better to be registered and legal than to live in the shadows.