I’ve talked about the bureaucracy before, but it’s worth mentioning again because, honestly, every expat I know can relate. The process is frustrating, time-consuming, and feels like an endless cycle of paperwork, document updates, and figuring out what you need, only to find out you’re missing something else.
I’m six or seven months into living here, and I’m still dealing with issues from when I first arrived. Some things take weeks, others take months, and just when you think you’re done, another step pops up. Luckily, I still have some time before I absolutely have to handle the next thing, but the thought of it lingers in the back of my mind like an unfinished task I can’t ignore.
It’s one of those parts of expat life that no one really prepares you for, the sheer amount of patience you need. You learn to laugh at the absurdity of it all, but deep down, you’re just hoping one day you’ll be done. (Spoiler: You never really are.)
The first thing I want to mention is my phone plan situation with Orange. When I first signed up, I agreed to pay €15 a month, which seemed like a great deal. But for the past two months, my bill has been creeping up to €25 or more, and I have no idea why. I don’t like surprise charges, especially when I don’t even know what I’m being charged for.
In my ideal world, once I hit my data limit, they’d just cut me off—simple, no extra fees, no stress. But instead, I have an eSIM, which means I get billed at the end of the month rather than paying upfront like a prepaid plan. At this point, I’m starting to wonder if I should switch to something more predictable because unexpected charges are not the kind of adventure I signed up for in Spain.
Dealing with my bank, Santander, has been an ongoing headache. When I first opened my account, they wouldn’t let me use my NIE number until I had my physical TIE card in hand. The problem? I needed to open it that way because it was the only way to get paid and obtain a bank certificate with my NIE. Since that wasn’t an option, I had to open an account with another bank just to make things work, but I still kept my Santander account for future use.
After months of procrastinating (because who wants to deal with Spanish bureaucracy?), I finally went back to fix the issue. And what do you know? Any changes take 24 hours to process, meaning I had to make yet another appointment. Fine. Whatever. But just when I thought I was making progress, I discovered that they somehow managed to change my name entirely in their system. So now, my name doesn’t match what’s on my TIE card, and—surprise, surprise—I still can’t get the certificate I need.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in Spain, it’s that convenience doesn’t exist in the world of bureaucracy. Everything is a waiting game, a back-and-forth battle that tests your patience at every turn.
Honestly, I don’t think this is just an expat problem—I’m sure locals deal with the same frustrations. The difference is that, for us, it often comes with extra paperwork and the added challenge of not always speaking the language fluently enough to handle things on our own. That said, I think Spain is doing a lot of things right, and no country is ever going to be perfect. I don’t want it to sound like I’m complaining, after all, I made the choice to move here, and part of that means accepting the good, the bad, and the bureaucratic. Some days are easier than others, but at the end of the day, I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything.
Love always,
American Girl Meets World
