Reader asks: do we really have to take the baby to the National Police to prove he exists?

(Illustration only)

Maybe one of our readers can answer this question (it's a very long time since Prospero had to deal with live babies): "When we applied for the baby's NIE number at the National Police station in La Línea, we were told that he had to be presented in person. This despite the fact that he has his own British passport and we had gathered all the documents needed to get his NIE. Has anyone been through this lately?" If you have, or know someone who has, please click on the word 'comments' below and tell us about it. We have to admit we were astonished by this one!

Fitting memorial for Freddy Field

CASTELLAR At 11 this morning, Rosemary Field handed the Mayor of Castellar, Juan Casanova, an olive tree and a plaque that will be placed at the entrance to the cine theatre in memory of her husband Freddy Field, who died last December. Among many friends and family Freddy was remembered for his love and commitment to Castellar, where he lived for the last five years of his life. An emotional Rosemary said that this had been her husband's wish. Freddy, whose mother was from Jimena and had a British father, was born in La Línea. He lived in Gibraltar for most of his life and died aged 52 on December 5, 2010. He will be remembered by Castellar as>>>someone who first became involved in helping Ian and Victoria Cann to raise money for an X-ray machine for the village health, fund raising in all manner of ways and later via the production of a pantomime. Freddy's involvement with Castellar also included raising funds for repairs to the side door at the Santuario del Santísimo Cristo de la Almoraima, also under the Canns' direction.

Expat freeloaders in the Spanish health system

(Source: Expatify) British expats living in Spain use their European Health Insurance Card (Ehic) to get free healthcare in Spain—even though the card is designed to be used only for emergency care while tourists holiday in European countries. In Alicante, 15-20% of all hospital admissions are British expats. Some Britons are looking at the Spanish hospitals and the British hospitals and choosing where they think they will receive the best, or quickest treatment and either going back to Britain or turning up at the Spanish hospitals with their Ehic. (Full story on Campopulse)

CampoPulse now listed on Expat Blog

You will have noticed a widget (love that word!) on our sidebar: Expat Blog. It is a collection of blogs about expats the world over. CampoPulse is now listed on that site. It is worth a visit to get the answer to numerous questions about your life as an expat, wherever you are. Naturally, we at CampoPulse - and, of course, JimenaPulse - will still be happy to help any way we can.>

British expats lose pensions appeal

More than half a million Britons who retired abroad will not have their pensions increased in line with inflation after a test case was today rejected by a European court. Judges in Strasbourg dismissed an appeal by 13 expatriates who had argued that the UK government's refusal to uprate their pay outs each year breached their human rights. The group had been leading a campaign to overturn rules which they say result in 540,000 expat pensioners receiving lower state pensions than their counterparts residing in Britain and some other countries.>

British expats ordered to demolish their homes

(Agencies) It has not been a good start to the new year for eight British owners of 'illegal' properties in Albox, Almería. Their Council has notified them of an order to demolish their homes built on non-urbanizable land in this municipality of Almanzora, where there are some 5,000 such illegal construction. The s plan to come out in a demonstration today, as they have done before (photo). The Mayor of Albox, José García (PSOE), says demolition would be 'stupid'. García, who inherited the problem from his predecessor, Francisco Granero (PP), made the decision to notify the orders over the holidays, which has left the proprietors in a state of shock, according to the Abusos Urbanísticos Almanzora No association (Auan) of over 400 British expats affected by the town planning debacle in the area. "One of the couples knew nothing at all about it. Nothing," said its president, Maura Hillen. (The full story on CampoPulse.)

British expats urged not to waste their vote

(The Daily Telegraph) British expats have been urged not to waste their vote in the forthcoming general election in Britain as the two major parties seek to mobilise the large but hitherto latent expatriate population.With the election no more than eight months away, Conservatives Abroad, the international wing of the party, used its annual conference in Majorca to begin a campaign to encourage British expats to sign up to the electoral register. Meanwhile, Labour International intends to contact all of its members by post in the coming weeks in an attempt to convince them to vote.>