Many people who are about to move to Spain will have heard of «empadronamiento«: what is it?
«Empadronamiento» means to register in the register of inhabitants of the Spanish municipality where you live or will live on a regular and stable basis, in order to officially inform the authorities of your address. It is recommended to do so as soon as possible.
In many cases, the registration procedure is necessary for other practices with the Spanish public administration, for example, to apply for residence permits, to apply for certain government subsidies, to enrol your children in a school or for procedures related to health care (for example, applying for the health card of the autonomous community where you live).
Normally (with some differences depending on the Spanish municipality) you can register in two ways: in person or online. For example, the city councils of Valencia and Barcelona allow you to register both telematically and in person, while the city council of Madrid only allows you to register in person (data updated on 30 August 2023, the possibility to register in person or telematically may change over time).
To apply for the empadronamiento it is not absolutely necessary to be legally in Spain, nor to already have a NIE, the important thing is to have certain requirements/documents that, except for small differences depending on the municipality, are as follows:
- A rental contract in your name, with a minimum duration of 6 months, signed to reside in the municipality where you are applying for registration in the «padrón municipal».
- Copies of the last water, electricity or gas bills.
- Copy of the transfer/receipt of the last month’s rent, and/or any other amount (e.g. payment of a deposit) to the owner of the flat.
- If you do not have a rental contract, you can use a written authorisation signed by the owner of the flat or by another tenant who is legally authorised to reside in the same flat, as «empadronado» in turn or who has a rental contract with a minimum duration of 6 months.
- In the case of family members, official documents may be requested that accredit the degree of kinship of the family member you intend to register (for example, birth certificate or document that accredits that you are the legal guardian of a minor, marriage certificate, partnership certificate, etc.).
You can obtain a «volante de empadronamiento» or a «certificado de empadronamiento«, which are two documents that have different legal value.
The application for empadronamiento can be made by a representative duly authorised by the applicant.
Do you need help with your empadronamiento? Get in touch with BarcelonaGlobalService at francesco@barcelonaglobalservice.com or via the contact link
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Hi, I’m living in Valencia, I’m from France but I don’t have the NIE, nor a renting contract…can you halp me to get the empadronamiento as soon as possible please?
Dear Delphine, you don’t need to have NIE nor a renting contract (But you will definitely need an authorization signed by the landlord or whom is already legally living in the same apartment). Would you please email me to francesco@barcelonaglobalservice if you need assistance with this process. Many thanks
Good morning, I’m living in Barcelona and I’ve been told that, in order to get the public health card (CatSalut) I must get the empadronamiento first…Is it true? Many thanks
Dear Mario, yes you are correct, in addition to having the empadronamiento you will need to register as an active worker with the Tesorería General de la Seguridad Social, or alternatively you can activate the right to full healthcare if you have an S1 certificate issued by the health authorities of an EU member country, or you can be recognised as a beneficiary of the seguridad social if you have a family member/spouse already residing in Spain, and in turn entitled to healthcare. If you wish, please write to me at francesco@barcelonaglobalservice.com. Best regards