The british Consulate team in Alicante descended en masse in Torrevieja last Thursday to present a ‘Consulate in the Community’ Road Show for British expats living in the municipality.

Round Town News | Noticia

The day started at the Iceland supermarket with Vice Consul Lloyd Milen and Department of Works and Pensions (DWP) Advisor, Laura Leeman. They had been invited by Store Manager, Kenny Thomson, to speak to customers and inform them about the Road Show that evening, which took place at the Virgen del Carmen Theatre. Whilst at Iceland, Lloyd Milen took some time out to speak to RTN.  He said: “The purpose of us coming here and for the Road Show itself is to engage the people who don’t or wouldn’t usually come to us. We are primarily here to promote the event this evening and this is the first time that this kind of promotion has been done by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office anywhere in the world.”

DELIGHTED

British Consul, Paul Rodwell and his team, including the DWP team, headed by Martyn Standing, also welcomed more than a dozen charities to the Road Show event, including Age Concern, the Alzheimer’s Association and MABS, as well as representatives from the Diputación of Alicante and the Torrevieja Town Hall.

For the new Diputada for European Residents, Women and Youth, Mercedes Alonso, who is also the Partido Popular Mayor for Elche, it was her first official duty in her provincial role and she was delighted to have been invited to the event. She was accompanied by the Torrevieja Deputy Mayor, Joaquín Albaladejo and other Torrevieja officials including Rosario Martínez Torregrosa, the new Councillor for Foreign Residents and the Head of the Foreign Residents Office (OARI), Graham Knight. 

INTEGRATION

Ms Alonso told the audience of more than 150 British expats; “I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you all to our province. You are all citizens of Alicante and profoundly important to our province. The European Residents Office will continue to promote integration and the ConeXiones programme, which was successfully launched two years ago.” She added: “We will also continue to work closely with the British Consulate and exchange information and ideas.”

The Deputy Mayor also welcomed the audience to the Road Show and reiterated the Torrevieja government’s support for all British expatriates who live in the municipality. The evening continued with a detailed outline of what the Consulate can and cannot do for you by Paul Rodwell, before an informative talk about health and pensions by Martyn Standing followed by a brief questions and answers session.

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