Procedure · Empadronamiento (Padrón municipal)
Empadronamiento: registering with your town hall
Everyone living in Spain is legally obliged to register at their town hall. It is usually free and quick — but for non-EU residents without long-term residence it expires after two years unless renewed, and nobody reminds you.
Checked at source ·
- Official fee
- Free in almost every municipality
- Official name
- Empadronamiento (Padrón municipal)
- Forms
- —
- Steps
- 7
- Documents required
- 4
Source: Boletín Oficial del Estado — Resolución de 17 de febrero de 2020 — instrucciones técnicas a los Ayuntamientos sobre la gestión del Padrón municipal (texto consolidado). Checked .
Who needs one
Everyone who lives in Spain, whatever their nationality or immigration status. The obligation is on the person living here, not on the residence permit, and registering does not require you to hold one.
Step by step
Register where you actually live, not where it suits you
The law is blunt about it: everyone living in Spain is obliged to register on the roll of the municipality where they habitually reside. If you live in more than one municipality, you register only in the one where you spend most of the year. Children are registered with the parent or guardian they live with, unless an authorisation says otherwise.
Where: The Ayuntamiento (town hall) of the municipality where you live
Bring identification appropriate to your status
Spanish nationals bring the DNI, or a passport if returning from abroad until a DNI is issued. EU, EEA and Swiss citizens bring the EU registration certificate showing the NIE, or a national identity document or passport. Non-EU citizens bring the foreigner identity card showing the NIE, or a passport in force. Children under 14 can use the family book or a birth certificate instead.
Prove the dwelling, one way or another
The usual proof is a title of ownership — deed, purchase contract or registry documentation — or a valid rental contract accompanied by a recent rent receipt. If you have neither, this does not shut you out: the municipal officer can verify by other means, including a local police report or an inspection, that you really do live there. People living in someone else's home register with that resident's authorisation, and people without formal housing can be confirmed through social services.
Understand that this is not an immigration procedure
The padrón counts residents so that the municipality is funded and services planned. It is not a residence permit, does not grant status, and being registered does not regularise anyone. That separation is what makes it possible to register without holding a permit — and it is why the padrón certificate is the document you are asked for by schools, health centres and, in turn, by immigration procedures themselves.
If you are non-EU without long-term residence: renew every two years
This is the part that costs people dearly. Non-EU nationals who do not hold a long-term residence authorisation must renew their registration every two years. Renewal means formally confirming, in writing, that you still live at the registered address and that you intend to remain registered. If the two years pass without that, the registration expires and the municipality issues a reasoned decision declaring it expired.
Know which clock applies to you
Non-EU nationals who do hold long-term residence are not on the two-year cycle, but their residence is confirmed after two years since their last registration entry — five years where they appear in the Central Register of Foreign Nationals. Spanish and EU citizens are not subject to the expiry at all. Which of these you are decides whether the padrón will quietly lapse on you.
Ask for the certificate, not just the volante
Town halls issue two things: a volante, which is an informal confirmation, and a certificado, which is the formal document with legal effect. Immigration procedures, and anything going before a court or a notary, generally want the certificado. Ask which one you are being given before you leave.
Documents you need
Identification
Spaniards: DNI. EU, EEA and Swiss citizens: EU registration certificate with NIE, or national identity document or passport. Non-EU citizens: foreigner identity card with NIE, or a passport in force. Asylum application receipts and travel documents are also accepted.
Proof of the dwelling
Title of ownership, or a valid rental contract with a recent rent receipt. Where neither exists, the municipality may verify residence by other means, including a local police report or an inspection.
Authorisation from the resident, if you live in someone else's home
Signed by a person already registered at that address, with a copy of their identification.
Family book or birth certificate, for children under 14
Accepted in place of the child's own identification document.
Common questions
Do I have to register on the padrón?
Yes. Every person living in Spain is legally obliged to register on the roll of the municipality where they habitually reside. The obligation follows from living here, not from holding a permit.
Can I register without a residence permit?
Yes. The padrón counts residents and is not an immigration procedure — it neither grants nor requires legal status. That is precisely why it can be registered without a permit, and why it does not regularise anyone either.
Does the padrón expire?
For non-EU nationals without long-term residence, yes: it must be renewed every two years, and if it is not, the registration expires and the town hall issues a decision declaring it expired. Spanish and EU citizens are not subject to that expiry. This catches people out because nothing arrives to remind you.
What is the difference between a volante and a certificado?
The volante is an informal confirmation that you are registered. The certificado is the formal document with legal effect, and it is the one immigration procedures, courts and notaries generally require. Check which you are being handed.
I do not have a rental contract in my name. Can I still register?
Usually yes. If you live in someone else's home you register with the authorisation of a person already registered there. If you have no formal housing at all, social services can confirm your residence, and the municipal officer can verify it by other means such as a local police report.
Does it cost anything?
Registration is free in almost every municipality, and it is generally done the same day. What varies between town halls is whether you need an appointment and whether they will accept the application online.
Sources
Every fact on this page comes from one of these. We do not cite other guides, because a copy gives us no way to notice when the original changes.
This is information, not advice
Your own case depends on your nationality, your current status and your history with the administration — none of which a web page can see. Confirm anything that matters with the responsible authority or a qualified professional before you act on it.