Today, I explored Vélez-Málaga with another American Aux. We started at La Plaza de la Constitución where we saw the Parroquia San Juan Bautista (church) and the Holy Week statue. The conical hat is not what you think it is...nazarenos are members of the Catholic brotherhoods who participate in the Semana Santa (Holy Week) processessions every year. The hat symbolises penitence. From la Parroquia, we walked up the windy roads to the Iglesia de Santa María where there is a museum dedicated to Semana Santa. From there, we ventured to the top of La Fortaleza (Fortress) where you can see all of the coastal towns as well as all the small white mountain villages. We stopped for breakfast and bought a Torta de Vélez which is an almondy sweet bread with a hint of anise. We then went to the Iglesia y Convento de San Francisco and then back up to the Ermita de la Virgen de los Remedios (hermitage). The interior of the Hermitage has been recently decorated using beautiful frescos of daily life in Axarquía by a local artist.
The Renewal
Renewals for the 2022/3 program opened on the 1st of Feb! Profex is notorious for crashing on the first day of renewals so I decided to wait a couple of days. Although I am enjoying life in Spain, I have only been here for one month and have only taught for 3 official days at my school. So I'm not exactly well-informed on whether I should sign up for another year of teaching, however, I decided to renew to keep my options open.
I will try my best to explain the renewal process, however, I actually ended up getting lucky, after accidentally deleting my application 4 times!
There are endless social media posts with queries on how to renew. Attached here, are the instructions (in Spanish of course) as well as the Informe del Centro (review form) that your school needs to fill out.
To begin with, go to Profex and look for 'Presentación solicitudes'. Then select
'Auxiliares de conversación extranjeros en España' and click on 'Renovación solicitud'. This is where you upload a copy of your passport, a signed, 300-word letter (in Spanish) of why you want to renew, and the review form with your school's official seal.
Go back to the 'Auxiliares de conversación extranjeros en España' option and click on your application; this will take you to a page with the options for 'Andorra' and 'Spain' (don't ask why). Click on Spain and indicate it as your first preference, then answer the questions (autonomous community preferences and more specifically where you want to teach). Make sure you click inscritar to submit.
Go back to the 'Auxiliares de conversación extranjeros en España' option again and take note of the 'número de solicitud' for your application, and click on the PDF option. Email these two items to the relevant email address (listed at the bottom of the 'How to Renew' document) and that's it!
You have until the 7th of April to do this, however, try do it by the 14th of March otherwise you will be randomly allocated.
If you are part of the January Intake, you will need to make an appointment at the Oficina de Extranjeria (immigration office) for sometime in March/April, explaining that you will be getting a new Letter of Appointment soon and that you need the relevant documents to be able to stay in Spain until October. (Don't worry about your TIE until you start your next school year.)
Applications for first-timers will open on the 7th of April.
Notes:
- I've seen a lot of strange vegetables in the markets lately. For example, there is a beautiful broccoli-cauliflower vegetable here called romanesco.
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