The British Consul urges foreign residents in Coín to register on the town hall ‘padrón’

If you live in the municipality and you are not registered at the town hall, the council isnt receiving money which is due to it so it can provide more services. We always encourage British residents to register. That was the message from Charmaine Arbouin, the British Consul for Andalucía, the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla, who visited Coín this week to give a talk about the effects of Brexit on foreign residents there. It was attended by about 140 people. We were able to reassure them, she said.

The Consul also held a meeting with Mayor, Francisco Santos, because Coín council is carrying out a campaign to encourage British residents to register on the padrón. It estimates that more than 5,000 residents are not registered.

There was a sharp increase in the towns registered population last year, to 22,147, the third-highest ever. However, the town hall says the real figure is much higher.

It is not an official statistic, but we estimate that Coín actually has around 27,000 inhabitants, given the amount of rubbish collected in the municipality, said Santos.

With regard to the meeting with the consul, the mayor said We wanted to find out at first hand what problems our British residents might have, and the Consul has greatly reassured us. He also explained that staff at the town hall speak English, to make things easier for the British community there.

Arbouin praised this initiative and urged British residents to go to the town hall with any questions or doubts. Many people are afraid they wont be able to communicate, but with English speaking staff that isnt a problem, she said.