Padron for non residents

This argument, along with the misquoted articles and Chinese whispers, has been going on since I've been coming here over 20 years. Back then, we were encouraged to sign on the Padron whether permanent or not. Many municipalities in Spain still allow those who do not live here permanently to do so. These are mainly those places with lots of holiday owners where they do not get any money from the regional governments and lose out on funding but still have provide the services. Their argument is that it refers to those who have property in Spain as that is their habitual residency IN SPAIN.

Now, we've heard the rumours about massive fines but that's all they are, rumours. If they were actually taking place people and town would be all over the place bitching about it, but they aren't.

So what doe the law actually say?
BOE 1985/5392 is the law that lays down the responsibility of municipalities and those living here to register and to allocate resources to keep the town running.
"

Every person who lives in Spain is obliged to register in the Register of the municipality in which they habitually reside.

Those who live in several municipalities must register only in the one they live in for the longest time per year.

The National Institute for Statistics (INE) is in charge of collating all information across the nation and ensuring no duplications occur. The INE then allows other government agencies access to this centralised database, which is updated every quarter with the latest data from across the nation. (Art 17.3, RBLE)."
I'm sure this will still be going on long after I'm gone.

We have just been down to the Town Hall to cancel our Padrons. We are non-residents and have held them for 16 years. The gentleman who did the cancellation for us was rather cross that we were cancelling and asked why we were doing so. We explained and he said it was absolutely unnecessary
So who is right????

Wouldn't Hacienda be interested in someone declaring Spain is their habitual residence? Habitual Residence is where you reside for most of the year and where you naturally return to when you have been away.

Bee

Really Bee? Every article, whether government or solicitors or advice or whatever all say "should" and "could" as if no-one understands it.

You could say, as some municipalities do, that if you go to the same place every time you visit then you "habitually" go there.

No, I don't think non residents should (there's that word again) go on the padron but that's only my opinion. We only went on the padron when we took out residency but we didn't need to buy a car (and all dealers insisted on one back then), we only got our SIP card after taking out residency and never got a "temporary" SIP card even though the sign in the town hall said sign on the padron then go to the lady under the stairs to get a temporary SIP card which was issued for 6 months.

If it were "illegal" then fines would be flying around like nobody's business and they aren't. The Spanish have great form for issuing fines where they can .

I can understand the point Rojales has as they are very underfunded for the population yet people complain bitterly when bins aren't emptied, roads aren't repaired (the big work in town was a grant from the region) and so on.

Someone posted on here just a short while back that Rojales was getting less than 50% of the grants because of the amount of holiday home owners. Yet they still have to pay the local police, the bin men, the street cleaners .....you name it. None of it comes free.

Even when we lived on the Orihuela Costa we were being encouraged to sign on the padron (I think they've stopped that now) for precisely the same reasons. Even down to if we signed on the padron they would give us free Spanish lessons.

But, like all things, expat rumour control gets out of hand.

I still don't think it's actually "illegal" otherwise we could be pointed to somewhere official that says it is. There are, though (as I've pointed out) lots of potential pitfalls.

Whatever the coulds and woulds when you sign on the Padrón you are declaring that you are a permanent resident of Spain. We have owned a property in Spain since 1998 and it was never in question that we could sign on the Pádron as we were non-residents. I recall asking if we could vote in the local elections and was told under no circumstance as we were non-residents and couldn't be on the Padrón.

Bee

Bee wrote:Whatever the coulds and woulds when you sign on the Padrón you are declaring that you are a permanent resident of Spain. We have owned a property in Spain since 1998 and it was never in question that we could sign on the Pádron as we were non-residents. I recall asking if we could vote in the local elections and was told under no circumstance as we were non-residents and couldn't be on the Padrón.

Bee

Hi Bee,
As I have mentioned previously we were encouraged to register for the Padron to give the local authority more funding.
If this was illegal I am pretty sure we would have been fined by now and begs the question as to why it was allowed to happen,today I went to my townhall and de registered to avoid problems with driving under a UK license.
At the end of the day the only losers here are the local authority and the people who live here.I have lost nothing only made sure I am within the law.

And, has been mentioned many times, different municipalities. Torrevieja, where Bee lives, does not allow it. Orihuela Costa and Rojales (along with many municipalities) actively encourage it. (Not sure about Orihuela Costa now as that was 12 years ago).

It is the Town Hall who gets fined if it is found to be flouting the rules by returning incorrect Padrón figures. Unfortunately the actions of the Town Hall has now led to people finding themselves at odds with the law.

Bee

This is just going around in circles. If town halls were the ones being fined then loads of them would have been. They haven't, never heard of a case where a town hall has been fined for issuing padron to non residents.

Plus, more expat rumours. It's been stated on here before that the person going on the padron would be the one fined. I think someone mentioned up to 3,000 euro. Again, never heard of anyone being fined.

The only "law" that I can see about the padron is that full time residents are to register on the padron. Despite looking, I haven't seen on official site that says it's against the law for non-residents to sign on the padron.
Lots of guesses, what ifs, Chinese whispers and rumour control.
Once I hear of a town hall or a person being fined for for being a non-res padron signee then OK. However, I have pointed out the disadvantages to the person for doing so.

I seem to have started a lot of going round in circles with a comment on the police fining someone for being on the padron & driving with.a UK licence.I don’t know if the original story is true or not,but being on the N 332 Facebook page I’m inclined to believe it,so much so that when we return in a couple of weeks we’ll be de registering just to be sure,& as Marcliff says better safer than a fine,after all, I can’t see any personal benefit to being on the padron for a non resident.