With the slogan ‘Don't stay in the shadows, register or renew your registration’, Calpe Town Council is launching a campaign to encourage people to register and update their details. To this end, the Department of Registration, headed by Paqui Solivelles, will distribute flashlights at the Citizen Service Office starting this week, sending the message about the importance of registering and renewing registration in the case of foreigners. The flashlights will be distributed to citizens who come to the Citizen Service Office to carry out any municipal procedures.
The flashlights are dynamo-powered and screen-printed with a QR code and the logos of Calpe Town Council and Alicante Provincial Council. The QR code provides information on the documentation required to register on the register or to update your details in the event of a change of address, as well as the procedure for carrying out these formalities. It also indicates how Spanish citizens should proceed if they move to another municipality or country. It also provides information on the advantages, benefits and programmes available to those who are registered. The campaign is subsidised by the Alicante Provincial Council.
Last January, the National Statistics Institute notified the Town Council that the figure for the municipality, resulting from the revision of the municipal register as of 1 January 2024, is 26,821 inhabitants. This means that the register has increased by 967 new inhabitants since the last official figure. In addition, the proposed figure for 1 January 2025 is 27,616, which will be made official in December this year, to be used during 2026.
However, reaching this figure and preventing a decline in the cvity´s census requires intensive work on the part of the City Council. In recent years, the Census Department has implemented various measures to prevent population loss. One of the problems identified is the lack of information among citizens, who in many cases are convinced that they are already registered or are unaware of the need to renew their registration if they are foreigners.
The Town Council estimates that hundreds of foreign residents are not registered with the INE because they have not renewed their registration in the municipal register, as by law, EU residents registered in the Central Register of Foreigners or non-EU residents with long-term residence permits must renew their registration in the register every five years, and other foreigners every two years.
For this reason, the Town Council has launched a series of campaigns aimed at all citizens, foreign or otherwise, residing in Calpe, to encourage them to register or renew their registration.
The Councillor for the Register, Paqui Solivelles, has pointed out that "the council continues to work to inform citizens of the need to be registered or to update their registration. The process for registering or renewing your registration is simple. All you must do is go to the Citizen Service Office on the ground floor of the Town Hall and provide the deed to your home, or your latest property tax bill or current rental contract, as well as your ID card, passport or foreigner identification number. If you are only renewing your registration, you only need to provide your passport, foreign resident ID card or national identity card. Being registered also has a number of advantages, such as access to the Home Help Service or home telecare programmes. You must also be registered to access the services of the Senior Citizens' Civic Centre (gym, exercise classes, courses, trips, etc.), or to access reduced fares on local buses or free Spanish courses for foreigners.