Essential Spanish phrases

Registration on the municipal roll at the ajuntament. The keystone document in Spain — the health card, school places and your TIE all depend on it.

The prior appointment required for almost every government office. Securing one is harder than the appointment itself, and Alicante's extranjería office serves a province with enormous foreign-resident volume.

The foreigner identity number and the physical card carrying it. The number comes first; nothing downstream works without it.

A licensed administrative agent who handles paperwork on your behalf. Completely normal in Spain, and on the Costa Blanca there are gestorías that work almost exclusively in English.

A private residential development with its own roads, pools and community fees. Most of the coast south of the city is built this way, and the community fee is a real monthly cost, not an extra.

The co-official language, a variety of Catalan. Alicante city is overwhelmingly Castilian-speaking in daily life, but official forms, street signs and schooling all use Valencian too.

Alicante's June bonfire festival — satirical sculptures built in the streets and burned on the night of the 24th, followed by a week of fireworks over the beach.

The almond nougat made in Jijona and Xixona just inland, with a protected designation. Locally a year-round product, not only a Christmas one.

Alicante's own rice dish — cooked in fish stock and served without the fish, which arrives separately. Not paella, and locals will tell you so.

The mid-morning second breakfast around 10:30 — a bocadillo, a beer and a coffee. Distinct from lunch, which happens at two.

The single European emergency number for police, fire and ambulance. Free from any phone, and English-speaking operators are routine here.