Spain can be a funny place. On the one hand, they have a reputation for taking their time when it comes to service. My first experience with this was at the Spanish consulate in San Francisco, where some people seemed pretty annoyed at being forced to do their job. On the other hand, Spain also seems to have an obsession with doing things just by the book -- this must be stamped here, and that must be signed there, and you need an official seal for this, and a notarized photocopy for that.
I ran across this most recently when dealing with Spanish customs concerning a box of my clothes that had been sent from the US. For some reason all my other boxes went through, but this one was singled out for inspection. I received a notice in the mail stating that I had to submit a list of the items in the box, as well as their approximate value. I also had to submit a form with my signature and ID number, plus the signature and ID number of a Spanish citizen. I tried the first time to submit all this information online. Two weeks later I got another notice telling me to do the same thing. So, I had to do it all over again. This time, however, I was unable to submit the forms online because I had already done it once. Fortunately, I found a fax machine and sent everything in that way. Finally, two months after it was sent (and after paying 40 Euros in taxes), my box arrived.
When I was filling out the form detailing the contents of the box, I couldn't remember everything that I had put in there. I remembered there were some shirts and some jackets and some snow gear, so I put all that down. When the box finally arrived I opened it and found this inside:
I'm sure the Spanish authorities were surprised when they opened up the box and found that staring them in the face! Maybe next time they'll think twice about messing with my shit.
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