What letter is that, not that I rate my chances too highly?

you just ring the DWP in Newcastle - tell them your circumstances & ask for exactly that - the 'legislation letter'

it basically confirms that you live in Spain & that you have no right to healthcare in the UK

if you have the resident cert, & that proves that you were living here before April 24th 2012 , it's worth a try...........

In Andalucia things seem to be typically hit and miss - some people reporting they have been able to get registered at their local centro salud, and others having been refused although they had all the paperwork officially required.

I know, for instance, that the administrator at my local centro de salud refuses to register anybody who doesn't have an EHIC card (which I don't, being in the "black hole" situation of an early retiree not entitled to an EHIC from either the UK or Britain). When we originally registered for our first 2 years here with our S1 forms, she insisted on having our EHIC cards (which luckily were still valid at that time) in spite of me trying to insist that they were only intended for tourists to access emergency medical treatment, not for people who were living in Spain full time. However, she registered my friend's small daughter for one year with just her passport and the EHIC, although I told her they were only here on holiday.

Lynn, had the same problem here at the northern end of Andalucia.
My local surgery registered me using my EHIC although I had an S1 fully accepted and registered by SS and Medico. So when that expired so did my medical, although my doctor kept on seeing me and issueing me with prescriptions. I only found out when i couldn't log on to get an appointment.
When I retired fully I got another permanant S1 which again I took to be registered and they said they had no record of me - although i had a number.

Hopefully that is all behind me and I sit here waiting for my card !!

Well not in Valencia as if you are below the tax threshold you are not obliged to submit one.

you're not obliged to

but many have found (in my area anyway) that if they have been doing so they can get healthcare now, whereas if they haven't, they can't...........

That depends - it's not as simple as that. The rules are quite complex.

For example if you have investment income of over €1600 then you must declare even if no tax is due.

It is a very common misconception.

There is a good article about it on this site http://goo.gl/QNYtO

Incidentally the rules are the same across Spain - Valencia does not have different rules.

As per the original Q - we have decided to get married in Gibraltar which seems to be the easiest route.

So now I´d like to know how to go about registering (a) my new status as married and (b) that of my ´husband´ who has no current status except a well out of date NIE?

Any thoughts/help much appreciated.

The NIE is never out of date!!! The number you are given stays with you for life. If the form he used to get registered was the EX15 then he would need to upgrade that to a Certificate of Residence using EX18 once he has his Green sheet and with your salary and marriage lines that should enable him to register for health care as your dependant.

Avocados,
Could you explain the Pro-Con in reference to the Marriage (1) / (2) Option?
IE: What the benifit to linking - or not?

[ This is a new one on me ]

Thanks.
DSB.