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I suspect this is one for Johncar but any insights would be helpful.

In one of its Facebook postings, on its Brits in Spain page, the British Embassy wrote "If you have an A4 size green residency certificate, you have already registered as a resident. If you registered over 5 years ago, you can ask for permanent residency status. Permanent residents have more secured rights for the future, such as the right to access healthcare."

They were talking about the things we Britons habitually call the Residencia or the Certificado de Registro de Ciuadadano de la Unión.

I've heard this before. I've also heard the counter argument that after five years we automatically get permanent residency status and that it's a waste of time going through the paperwork. Just because I'm on holiday for all of August I thought that if there are advantages to renewing my certificate then now was the time to do it. I had a look on some official webpage about getting an appointment with foreigners part of the police and the documentation needed. It looked as though I would have to supply the same level of paperwork (to prove my income and health care cover) as if I were registering for the first time. I've been paying in to the Social Security and tax systems here in Spain for about fourteen years so I already have the right to access healthcare.

I'm all for avoiding sitting around government offices if I can and phrases about sleeping dogs and not fixing things that aren't broken come to mind. But there are other sayings about stitches in time.

Any experiences of the process of exchanging an old certificate for a new one or the need and advisability of doing so would be welcome.