I get about five hours sleep and was up at hour eating a picnic breakfast of chicken pieces, bread and apple with a cup of decaf instant coffee. At five the hotel shuttle bus took a group of us to the airport. Bag drop was only open two hours before the flight this early. There were lengthy queues and then a long wait to clear security. My bag got picked up because the scanner couldn't identify a squeezed tube of Tea Tree ointment. It took thirty five minute to get to the departure lounge, about twice as long as flights later in the day if I remember rightly.
I didn't hear the flight called, I don't know why. I knew the gate closes at 6.35, and at 6.25 wondered about this and checked to board only to discover that it said 'Last Call'. I got to the gate, last but four, with a determined dash and all was well from then on, except that the flight waited twenty minutes or so to take off, and was that much arriving late. I think the reason why I missed the first flight call is owing to the fact that in times past, arriving at the start of bag drop invariably meant a two hour wait. Boredom after an hour usually gets me on my feet checking the board for something to do. Rarely is anything of interest on offer in the shops or duty free zone.
From the airport I took the number one bus into town to the train station, as I had instructions to get from there to the Ministry of the Interior Office on foot. On the way I looked out for a bank to visit and get the €3.78 fee paid in advance, a prerequisite of getting the form processed. I queued for half an hour in a Banco Santander branch, only to be told that there were two other banks which acted as recipients for Government charges, Caixa and BBVA. He also said his bank's system wasn't able to recognise and make use of my passport number, and that I needed a NIE or NIF identifying number. I guess our equivalent is an NHS number.
I went and found a branch of Caxa, where I was impressed to see several ATM machines designed to process forms and stamp them with a payment receipt after using one's bank card and the filled in form. I queued there for a quarter of an hour, only to learn the same thing about NIE and NIF numbers being required on their system, and not passport numbers, although the requisite form states NIE/NIF/Passport. Without payment, no form processing. Mission aborted. The second time.
I was very upset and didn't know where to turn. I emailed Emma at the diocesan office and very soon Laura, one of the safeguarding officers called me back, at a loss to understand, as this had not happened to anyone else called upon to undergo a police check. Well, if any of them had for some reason been in Spain long enough to register for an NIF oe NIE, it's not a problem they would have come across. I've worked a lot of time in Spain but the issue of registering has never cropped up. I am 'undocumented' as far as Spanish State bureaucracy is concerned.
Ironically, if I had been arrested, or even deported at some time for an offence, this would be flagged up to border control. Having never had my personal details taken by any police officer for any reason, I am invisible to the system. It's an anomaly. It has cost me a lot of time and now money to no good purpose. I can have a go at registering when I get to Malaga in the summer, as I can rely on help there, but my appeal for help here has fallen on deaf ears.
At half past one I gave up and started hunting for a place to stay overnight. I found one in the old town barrio of Almodina, where the Cathedral is situated. A fifteenth century building converted into an hotel twenty years ago, small, quiet and utterly lovely. I can see the Cathedral's north side from my balcony. It's called 'Dalt Murada', meaning 'Above the Walls' a great place to stay. Fifty quid a night bed and breakfast.
I had five hours of daylight to wander and take photos. It was very windy but bright and sunny, good for taking photos! I walked out at night too, without a camera, and missed some great night shots, as many building are nicely floodlit. The Cathedral looks awesome from a distance. Sadly it had just closed to visitors when I passed by. Never mind, this would be a great place to bring Clare at some time in the future.
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