By Oliver McIntyre
The Mijas Foreigners’ Department, the first service of its type to be created in Spain more than 30 years ago, has this week been offering advice and assistance to a Canary Islands town that is setting up a similar department to serve its foreign residents.
“The British Consulate has chosen Mijas town hall’s Foreigners’ Department to receive the future Foreigners’ Department of Adeje, Tenerife,” said sources at the Mijas department, noting that they are always willing “to help any administration or organisation wanting to set up this sort of service”.
During the five-day visit, department members Anette Skou, Katja Thirion and Luisa Machen have been giving Clio O’Flynn from Adeje town hall an insider’s tour of how the Mijas department works and the wide range of services it offers to residents. This includes the way the department liaises with other town hall departments as well as with other administrations or entities including the National Police, the Traffic Department, the Tax Office, Social Security, the Andalucía health service, the Junta de Andalucía, social clubs, NGOs and consulates, among others.
