The Foreign Residents Office for Business in the Jávea Town Hall
21 July 2011. The Residents Relations department has opened an office in the Jávea Town Hall to offer assistance and information to the foreign residents. Initially, the office is located in the municipal building of the House of Tena, located on the Calle Mayor, although the actual entrance to the Foreign Residents Office is on Calle Pastores, number 2, through the rusted iron and tosca doors. The opening hours are from 9.30 am to 1.30 pm, but users can make contact at any time by email at: gro.aibaxja|pleh#gro.aibaxja|pleh.
According to, Oscar Anton, the Councillor heading this department, the main goal of this office is to function as a one-stop-shop for all those residents with problems communicating with Town Hall departments due to language barriers, or who may need guidance with their administrative procedures. Anton explained that there are many residents who do not know how the local government functions or which department to go to for determined procedures. Therefore, this department will be the point of contact between the foreign residents and the Town Hall, an office where they can find information about the services they are entitled to as registered residents.
Another of the basic functions of this service is to become a link between neighbourhood associations or urbanisations in the outlying areas of the municipality, receiving input about their problems, needs or ideas, and channelling them to the relevant departments. They will also establish contacts with civic associations, including the University of the Third Age (U3A) or charity groups, to listen to their ideas or needs. Anton has revealed that in the coming weeks several of these groups will be asked to attend an introductory meeting to present the new service and to set up the procedure for establishing effective contact.
Among the many initiatives the department is planning, some are also aimed at the Spanish population, such as a Basic English course for the unemployed. Because there is no actual budget to do this through the Creama, the idea is for native English speaking residents to teach the classes on a voluntary basis. Successful past projects will also continue to be carried out through this department, such as “Hablemos Más”, a language exchange programme that brings together native speakers of different languages, helping one another improve their foreign language proficiency. Elizabeth Collins and Georgina Rodriguez will be in charge of running the Foreign Residents Office.
