Lay My Hat

In lots of previous posts I have always recommended trying to find the right person in the right office especially in the town halls.
Well all that has changed. I don't know about other regions but Catalunya has gone queue crazy. I used to know many of the officials and would walk in to the service desk in whatever office I needed. Now you take a ticket and wait for your number to come up on a screen and then go to desk 2 or desk 4 etc. If you are lucky and your enquiry is straight forward you walk out with the bit of paper you were needing.
It looks smarter and more professional and in some ways it's probably fairer but it doesn't seem to me to be more efficient and you certainly have to wait longer.
And the tax office (that I have always suggested paying a visit) is now only accessible with a "cita previa" pre-booked appointment, not easy to do online if your not too hot on Spanish.
How is it in other regions?

The same here in Malaga regarding the tax office and most things now operate by number. Our own town hall, Torrox, seems to be light years now from the bad old days, with much time saved with emails etc, although there is still no escaping the dreaded rubber stamps

The rubber stamp is part of Spanish tradition. When we started our English language school many years ago we had to stamp all our receipts etc. I think it is still law.
One of the traditions I really like, here in Catalunya, is the "qui es ultim?" way of dealing with queues.
When you walk into a bank or a baker's you ask who is last. Then you can go and sit down or chat with somebody you know until it's your turn. You never have to stand in line. It's incredibly civilised and I have never come across it in any other country. Do people do this in the south?

costa-brava wrote: When you walk into a bank or a baker's you ask who is last. Then you can go and sit down or chat with somebody you know until it's your turn. You never have to stand in line. It's incredibly civilised and I have never come across it in any other country. Do people do this in the south?

Yes they do. Unfortunately I don't know how to ask the question in Spanish so I just scope the room and try to memorise all the people already there!

Casscat wrote: Yes they do. Unfortunately I don't know how to ask the question in Spanish so I just scope the room and try to memorise all the people already there!

Just ask the most likely candidate "ultimo/ultima?" if they are then fine if they are not they will point out who is last. Takes getting used to but it's a system that works well

¿Quién es el ultimo / la ultima ?

.... of course if it's unknown, then it's masculine...