Upon re-entering Spain a few days ago, I was worried that there would be a problem with immigration. Since I had left suddenly on the 8th of December, and I had an appointment to receive my NIE (residency card) on the 19th (which I had to skip), I thought they wouldn't let me back in with a visa that had expired on December 1st. So I made all kinds of preparations, I brought a copy of the letter from the Comunidad de Madrid, explaining why I was in Madrid and how long my program was, etc. I had worked out the explanation in Spanish in my head so it would come out in a coherent way (authorities make me nervous, even if I have nothing to hide). I arrive at customs and present my passport. The official looks at my passport, stamps it, and says "Welcome to Madrid". What?!? That's it? I went to all that trouble and they don't even ask me a single question, they just look at my U.S. passport and assume I would never be there illegally.
The next day I am sitting with Mariana and her family, and she says to me, "remember I told you that my friend from Caracas was going to come and stay with us?" I respond yes, and she launches into a story about how her friend got to the Madrid airport, Venezuelan passport in hand, and they wouldn't let her into the country. They took her into a room and she had to stay there, sitting in a chair for over 12 hours explaining what she was doing in Spain. They wouldn't let her call Mariana, and they ended up sending her back to Caracas, because even though she had a hotel reservation in Madrid, she hadn't paid for it. All because of her South American passport...
Que putada tía, que putada.
1 comment:
That sucks. Good thing you were born in the greatest country on the planet, huh? :)
I bet you are excited to be back. Watch for the notebook; I'm going to send it soon.
Happy new year!
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