It is one of the first things that we have to do once we have moved to Spain – visit the town hall for some or other administrative procedure or nightmare!

The first visit is normally one of many and they don’t get any easier as you gain experience in Spanish procedures-you just get less shocked!

One word of warning before your first visit –most town halls in Spain are open from 8 in the morning to 2 in the afternoon so don’t leave your visit till the afternoon.

Also, the very important 10 o’clock breakfast is rigorously observed by most local government and civil service staff, so expect to find skeleton staff manning the desks at this time of day!

If you have moved to a town or a village and whether you are renting or have purchased you should immediately sign on the “padron” or “empadronimiento”. This is just a simple list of local residents, which the town hall uses to claim funds from Central Government. If you aren’t registered the Town gets less money!

The “certficado de empadronimiento” is also required for some things like local school registration and to qualify to vote in local elections. You only need to provide basic information and something like a water bill, in your name of course, to prove where you live.

The Town Hall is where the Mayor’s and Deputy Mayor’s office is located and the various “delegados” in charge of different departments often have their main offices there as well. The list of local services run from the Town Hall is virtually endless but these are the main ones!

The “delegacion de cultura y enseñaza” is in charge of nursery schools, art, museums, theatre, and archaeological sites. The delegation for Hacienda (tax office), economia, and inspeccion tributaria is where you will pay your local rates and also helps in the administration of urbanisations.

The youth and sports department organise all the services for young people – after school clubs, computer courses and sports competitions.

The environment department “medio ambiente” is in charge of parks, the beach and environmental education while the cleaning department is in charge of street cleanliness and recycling.

Incidentally, this is a service which is being taken very seriously now and Andalucia ranks high in Spain in the total amount of material recycled.

The works department “obras” are in charge of water, electricity and all new works. You may well have cause to visit them if you are planning any new work. The social services department organizes services for old people, women, and for voluntary groups as well as its main social affairs role.

The office for consumers complaints is also organised by this department – somewhere most of us feel like going to on innumerable occasions!

A very important service controlled by the Town Hall is citizen safety and the emergency services. The local police, road safety, traffic ,the fire brigade, and civil protection are all planned and financed from here.

Other departments cover industry and industrial estates, the markets and shops, cemeteries, ports, public health and one which you may be familiar with already: tourism.

I saved the best department for last: that of the delegation for fiestas. What a great department to work in!

All details, services and planning for the ferias and seasonal celebrations are handled from here-New years eve, Christmas, Easter and Noche de San Juan. All the fireworks and fun!