Default : Deny

Many of you know mi marido (DH) works with computer security. One of the main things he tries to teach his clients to protect their networks with the principal of "default deny". In other words block access to your valuable data unless someone has an express need for having it. According to DH not too many companies employ this principal which why there is a success brood of hackers about, an incidentally why my DH is highly employable.

Apparently the Spanish government has imbued this principle to it's citizens in every form of bureauracy  from retail grunts to immigration lawyers. This is especially true if you are a foreigner from a non European Union country. We're told Spain takes second in worst bureaucratic bull, surpassed only by Italy.

By default Spain as a country doesn't trust anyone. (The opinions expressed here are solely ours and most likely highly ignorant, you are warned - locals please don't bother to correct me, at the time of posting, I'm over it all anyway). Consider the following examples (and also see below the reason for my lack there of posts these previous weeks).

Drivers License:  By default they don't trust that you've learned to drive in another country and have been doing so for 18 years. In six months from the time I arrived my US driver's will no longer be valid. If I am found driving with it after that time my car would be immediately impounded. (Information obtained by actual real people's experiences). I cannot simply convert my license. Instead I am obligated to take a 40 hour driving course which consists of two consecutive weekends all day Saturday and Sunday. I suspect I will be taking these classes with other unfortunate expatriates and Spanish teenagers. After such time if deemed capable I can sign up to take the written test (in English, but more difficult because it's a mix of American, British and Australian English with odd phrasing) and the driving test (given in Spanish only). If I pass the written I can take the driving. I hear I should expect to 'suffer' during this process and most likely take the tests several times before passing. At such a time as I am given my Spanish license I will have a big "L" on it for learner (or loser depending). This L states that I am a new driver and am not allowed to drive over 80 km (50 MPH). Um, I'll get run over on the freeway at that slow of speed. I would have that L limitation on my license for three years until I gained my experience. However, if I want to convert my US driving experience to Spain I can do so. It only requires an obscene amount of patience, a lawyer fluent in English and Spanish and money to burn.

Banks: When you open account you have to open special non resident account which is only valid for six months. This special type of account wins you higher bank fees for everything including obscene fees to transfer my own money from the US into my own account. We've figured out that being a non resident here pretty much means you get your pocketbook gouged at every turn. After six month's time our account will automatically be closed and we'll have to sit through the 2 hour process to open another resident account. It was literally two hours. I mean it. Can you imagine the outrage if it took you that long to complete any service in the US?

Grocery Stores: There is only one way in and out of the grocery store. The bathrooms are located on the outer side behind the cash registers and you are strictly prohibited from going out to use them and coming back in. Some stores even seal bags from other retailers (seal a meal style) to prohibit you from stealing.

Cell Phone: We can't get a contracted cell phones. That means, up no iPhone! Don't even get me started on this one. Let's just say it's sort of like my boyfriend (iPhone) dumped me and I still can't stop thinking about him (except, it's a her, cuz she's purple and she helped me do everything like um navigate, organize my contacts, surf the net while away from my computer). Now it's just me and my ordinary cheapo - basic - ordinary - not smart - can't even text, well hardly - foreigner pay as you go phone. I'd have to have an NIE which is like my green card and I can't get that until the VISAs are settled and a truck load more paper work is shuffled.

Hotels: They require photo copies of front and back of your credit cards, copies of your passport, and charge you every few days to just make sure you are good for it. We went rounds with the hotel manager about how giving photo copies of your credit card and signature is like a major security no go. It was that or sleep in the car.

The whole thing is kind of ironic since Barcelona is the number one city in the world for pickpocketing/ purse snatching. They don't trust us, yet I'm the one wearing my cross body purse in front and holding on to it!