San Fulgencio Council / Ayuntamiento – Ajuntament

The local town hall / council office is the gateway for contacting Social Services’ team of support professionals in Spain and to access their services. This is also the route for applying for Spanish statutory social care. For some benefits and much of the social care available, it is necessary to have been registered on Spanish town halls’ ‘padrón’ census registers for a minimum period of time; generally from one to five years in total depending on the type of support or benefit requested, although this can vary according to local policies.

Therefore, it is important that residents and their families think ahead and always register on their town ‘padrón’, and keep their details updated (see also Helpful Topics: Understanding the System on this website). (If a UK national resident has not been registered on the ‘padrón’, in extreme cases some short-term emergency help may be available, but this is ad hoc, cannot be predicted and varies by municipality.)

The Valencian Region (Provinces of Alicante, Valencia and Castellón) has a programme to help councils to integrate migrants into their local areas. The programme is called Pangea and most local town halls in the region offer it to the public or can access it. Among its several services is help with a disputed Spanish residency issue for a foreign national who already lives in Spain or with paperwork in trying to apply for Spanish residency if people do not have the correct qualifying documentation.