Is demand for Consular services in Spain increasing?
According to INE (Instituto Nacional de Estadistica) in 2008 the numbers of British nationals registered as resident in Spain increased by 28% from the number registered in 2006. There are an estimated 1.1 million British Nationals living in Spain. About 17 million visits are made by British nationals to Spain each year. In 2007-8 the Consulates in Spain issued over 6,000 emergency passports, mostly to British Nationals on holiday, a 15% increase on 2006-7. In 2008, the Consulate General in Madrid issued nearly 22,000 passports, a 5% increase on 2007. Why do you charge for these services? If we did not charge for these services the costs would have to be met from direct taxation. The British tax payer would be funding a service that the majority would not benefit from and the majority of customers overseas receiving this service would not even be paying a British tax. The money charged for a full passport is spent on 3 areas: 1) Passport issuing element – covers the cost of issuing pas
