Kevin Wright has been in Spain for a long time. First he worked in the tourism industry as a tour guide and agent for hotels and country cottages. But since last August he has been the link between Frigiliana Town Hall and the foreigners living in the town.
What is your main role within the Town Hall?
Firstly to be in contact with the foreigners resident in the area and provide a service for them. Our main goal is to get them to join the municipal population census (padrón).
Where do most of the foreigners in Frigiliana come from?
The vast majority are British. Then come the Germans, the Danish and, to a lesser extent, the French. The number of foreigners in Frigiliana increases each year. There are a lot of people who have taken early retirement. There are also a lot of young people from the UK who come to live in Spain, but without doing any research before hand or even learning the language, and they have a harder time.
Do the foreigners integrate in the municipality?
I know of a lot of foreigners who are trying to learn Spanish. They go to Spanish bars and businesses in order to pick up the language and customs. Unfortunately there is a proportion of foreigners who don’t make much effort, but they all say they’d like to integrate.
What do they go to you for?
They ask questions on all sorts of subjects, from the local housing tax (IBI) to the sewers, among many other issues?
How do you try to persuade them to join the population census?
I explain that it’s not a problem for them and that it is a great benefit for the town. The more people join the census, the more money Frigiliana gets for education, the Local Police force, infrastructure, etc. A lot of them think that if they join the census they will have to pay more taxes.
