End of the green certificate

WELL, finally the Spanish authorities have seen the light and have decided to scrap our “useless” green residence certificate. I don´t think the Spanish authorities had given British residents any thought  when they scrapped our old style residence cards and introduced the green certificate in its place.  The legislation stated that official identity documents from your “home”nation would be valid in  Spain with the green certificate as proof of residence. But as we all know British citizens do not have identity cards and therefore we were obliged to carry our passports as proof of identity. Now,  one thing is carrying around an identity card which can be tucked away nicely in your purse or wallet and another is having to take your passport. It has taken the Spanish authorities five years to see the error of their ways. It is five years too late as far as I am concerned. Thankfully, the only style residence identity cards which are valid identification will be introduced by the end of the year, which is fantastic news. Also, the actual foreigner’s department in Palma is being overhauled which will now mean that it will be alot easier to renew or apply for  your residence card. You can even download the form online and the whole process should take a matter of hours rather than days. This is certainly good news and full credit to the Balearics which has been at the forefront of the campaign to end the days of the certificate.