If you want to save yourself a lot of heart ache follow this advice.
The Inem office in Orihuela opens its doors at about 9am but if you turn up at that time you will be confronted with hundreds, yes hundreds, of people who have already beaten you to it. The process for being attended in this office can be very easy if you follow these simple steps.
If you get to the Inem office at about 6:30 or 7:00 in the morning you will find a dubious character loitering about with a clip board or similar. You may even observe him handing out small tickets with numbers on. These are the "pre" queue numbers which he hands out to ensure fair play.
So why give these out? Why not just stand in a queue for hours? Well this answers your question. Get there early, or even from about 10pm the following day and seek this guy out who will be outside the doors of the Inem office. Approach him and ask him for a number to sign on. If the number his higher than about 70 you wont be seen that day so look humble and ask if there might be a chance of getting a lower number. Be prepared to reward this favour with some cash (€10/€20 should do it)
Once you have your number go home, go to a cafe or back to your car and back to sleep until about 8:00 to 8:30 then return. The very same guy will be placing people in order along the street in a very orderly fashion. No waiting in line for hours on end!
OK so now you are in line and hopefully quite close to the beginning. The doors will open and you should see people enter the right side of the 2 doors. When its your turn you will go inside and get another ticket from a security guard (more official) This number will be the one you will need to actually see someone.
That's it then you can wait for your number to be displayed on the screens. When your number comes up there will be a desk number associated with it. Go to the right to the assigned desk and the rest is up to you.
Ensure you have followed the "Signing On" guide.