you wait until two months to get an appointment to renew the DNI. This is the situation in which the National Police stations in the province of Barcelonawhich is making it difficult for many citizens to obtain the document renewal to be able to leave holidays. After two years of the pandemic and with the return to normality, there are many people who have traveled again and this is causing a widespread collapse in personal documentation renewal centers, with waits of up to two months. In the province of Barcelona, the few remaining appointments for this month of August are loose hours in police stations in Sabadell, Rubí or Sant Cugat del Vallès and there are many citizens who are forced to travel to municipalities of other provinces in order to obtain the ID. The general tone is that the appointments available are located from end of september and for towns such as Barcelona, Badalona or L’Hospitalet there are no appointments until now entered the month of October. But this problem not only affects the province of Barcelona, but also extends to practically all of Spain since the beginning of June.
travel problems
Within Spanish territory, it is possible to travel with an expired identity document as long as you have valid driver’s license. For people who travel within the country it is not a problem to wait until September to renew the document, however you cannot travel to any country in the schengen area with this method, since it is an essential requirement confirm identity using a valid passport or DNI. Carmen López, one of those affected by the collapse of the renewal centers, is fearing for her vacation. She made an appointment to renew her DNI a month ago and the only time she could get was for after returning from the trip. The woman explains the difficulty of being able to get an appointment at a nearby police station before going to Malta, at the end of this summer, since if she does not manage to renew the document will have to cancel reservations. “The only option I have is to go to a police station that is further away, but due to work issues it is impossible for me. Before, you came at seven in the morning, you queued and you could get your DNI but this has been withdrawn and many of us are a problem. I don’t have a passport because I didn’t need it to travel within the Schengen area and when I wanted to make an appointment to renew it, I found myself in the same situation as with the identity card & rdquor ;, explains this 43-year-old woman.
“Before you came at seven in the morning, you queued and you could get your DNI, but this has been withdrawn,” explains an affected
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The complaints regarding the collapse of the offices are widespreadsince many assure that this problem could have been solved with a good foresight. In addition, those affected also demand that the offices for obtaining documents return to normality because they are “a basic need in the life of any person.” This is stated by Albert Marín, a 32-year-old man who has spent weeks trying to get an appointment at a police station near his place of work and it is being impossible for him to get one before the beginning of October. “Supposedly we have returned to normality, but we have not recovered the normality that we need to carry out urgent procedures. I understand that we have to continue with measures and capacity restrictions in hospitals and health centers, but what happens with the public administration offices Y police stations to renew documents is shameful& rdquor ;, explains this young man.
The passport, in the same situation
Refering to passport acquisition, the situation is similar. No appointments available until month of September and unlike the case of the DNI, appointments during this month of August are non-existent in any of the police stations in the province of Barcelona. Joaquín Méndez has been trying for several weeks to make an appointment to renew his passport since, in his case, he travels at the end of August to a country where he is required to have a passport with a minimum validity of six months and with his current passport he does not You can travel because of this restriction. The only solution they have given him to be able to obtain a passport without an appointment is to go to the Police station located within the airport of Barcelona, but he assures that it is difficult for him to be able to go without having to juggle his schedules. “Having to go to the airport is a problem for me, since it is quite far away, but it is the only solution I have, otherwise I cannot travel. Before, you used to go to any police station and they gave you an appointment practically from one day to the next, and if not, you had the option of going first thing in the morning, standing in line and having it done urgently, but this is no longer the case now, it is a delay for citizens & rdquor ;, explains Méndez. In order to obtain a passport, it is also mandatory to have a valid identity document, a condition that makes it difficult for some users to be able to travel if they have both expired and they do not get a date to be able to renew them before leaving on vacation.