Vélez-Málaga Council / Ayuntamiento

The local town hall / council office is the normal gateway to Spanish statutory social care. To apply for statutory social care a UK national must normally have been resident in Spain for 5 years in total and continuously for the last two years. This is why it is important that residents, and their families, think ahead and register residency (see link). (If a UK national resident is not registered on the “padrón” in extreme cases some short-term emergency help may be available, but is ad hoc, cannot be predicted and varies by municipality).