The British Consulate In the Canaries

Change at British Consulate in Canaries
Maria Leng, who has ably led the British consular team in the Canary Islands for the past two years, is to leave her role as part of a continuing modernisation of the consular network in Spain.
Giles Paxman, HM Ambassador to Spain, said: “I would like to thank Maria Leng for the huge contribution that she has made as Consul in the Canaries, as well as to our wider Spanish and Southern European consular networks. She has been one of the key drivers in improving our services, in a country that has the busiest British Consulates in the world.”
The Canaries are among the most popular destinations worldwide for British nationals, with some 85,000 residents on the islands and 3.5 million visitors every year.
Mr Paxman added: “Our offices in Tenerife and Gran Canarias do an impressive job providing a wide range of assistance to British visitors and residents on the islands. They are staffed by highly trained and dedicated staff and are committed to working closely with the Spanish authorities and British community organisations, all of which are vital partners. This work will, of course continue under Maria’s successor.”
Maria Leng said: “I am very proud to have led two great teams who provide a first-class service to British nationals in sometimes difficult and distressing circumstances, as well as to have worked with the Honorary Consul here. I want to publicly recognise and thank them for the work they do. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time as Consul in the Canaries, and previously in Ibiza where I was Vice-Consul.”
An announcement about the new Consul for the Canaries will be made in due course. Mr Paxman said: “Maria’s departure coincides with a wider restructuring of the British consular network in Spain, about which we are in touch with the Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores y Cooperación. Maria’s successor will continue to develop and support the solid relationship we have with the Canarian authorities.”

A new direction for Consular services in the Canaries

From the 1st July 2012, both British Consulates in Las Palmas  Gran Canaria and Santa Cruz Tenerife  will be introducing important operational changes. We seek to improve the way in which we serve both British residents and tourists and recognise the need to adapt to meet the challenges of the current economic and social climate.

The focus of Consular work in the future will be on providing additional support to victims and preventing the consular cases of the future. We need to allow Consular staff to dedicate more time to victim support, emergency assistance cases, and outreach work.

To this end, we will be moving all non emergency and non-time sensitive work to our Consulates in Las Palmas and Santa Cruz and delivering these services to the public on specific days only.

Our current surgeries on Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and the south of Tenerife will be replaced with regular outreach visits to these areas, designed to source, nurture and develop support networks for our vulnerable British nationals.

Maria Leng (pictured above), former British Consul for the Canaries said, “Together with safeguarding Britain’s security and building prosperity, the government has placed protecting our citizens abroad right at the top of our foreign policy agenda. In order to do this we need to adapt our opening hours for non-emergency enquiries to allow our staff the time to dedicate to those most in need. Up until now, the staff dealing with these cases could be interrupted at various stages by customers requiring certificates or making general enquiries.

The new arrangements will allow consular staff to concentrate front line resource on outreach work, emergency assistance cases and victim support. With a more efficient delivery model in place and greater use of the media, stakeholders and partners to deliver regular and targeted preventative messaging, projects and campaigns, we hope to drive down avoidable, non essential assistance work.”

In 2011, Consular staff in the Canaries dealt with 1,345 assistance cases – we have seen a significant rise in cases involving deaths (20%) mental health (67%), missing persons (11%) and hospitalisation (39%). Every day, residents and tourists find themselves in truly distressing circumstances such as suffering a serious accident, bereaving the death of a loved one, or becoming a victim of rape or another violent crime. Our primary role is to offer support and assistance to those British nationals in need and their families.

 Public opening hours from 1sth July 2012:

Tuesdays & Fridays: 08.30hrs – 13.30hrs

Notarial services:

Please consult our webpage or call 902109356 or alternatively +34 913342194 for further information on how to make an appointment. Please note, we are no longer able to provide notarial services without prior appointment.

Emergency Assistance:

Assistance is available 24hrs a day, 7 days a week by calling us on

902109356 or alternatively +34 913342194

E-mail: info.consulate@fco.gov.uk

Webpage: http//:ukinspain.fco.gov.uk

British Consulate

3º Plaza Weyler, 8, 1º

Santa Cruz de Tenerife 38003

British Consulate

Calle Luis Morote No.6,

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

35007

 






RSS News From The Mainland