Passports and travel

Coronavirus travel restrictions may affect may affect travel to and from Spain.

You can apply for or renew your British passport from Spain. The British Embassy does not issue passports.

Check the Spain travel advice for passport validity requirements.

Always carry your passport when travelling within the Schengen area. If you have citizenship of an EU or European Free Trade Association (EFTA) country, in addition to your British citizenship, you should enter and leave Spain using your EU or EFTA passport.

If you stay in Spain with a Spanish residence permit or long-stay visa, this time does not count towards your 90-day visa-free limit for the Schengen area.

If you visit other Schengen area countries outside Spain, make sure you do not exceed the visa-free 90 days in any 180-day period. You are responsible for counting how long you stay under the Schengen visa waiver, and you must comply with its conditions.

Different rules apply to EU countries that are not part of the Schengen area. Check each country’s travel advice page for information on entry requirements.

If you were living in Spain before 1 January 2021

When you travel, carry your residence document (the green A4 certificate or credit card-sized piece of paper or the TIE) or frontier worker permit issued under the Withdrawal Agreement, in addition to your valid passport.

You must proactively show your residence document (the green A4 certificate or credit card-sized piece of paper or the TIE) if you are asked to show your passport at border control. If you have applied for, but not yet received, your residence document, show proof that your application is in progress.

If you cannot prove that you are a resident in Spain, you may be asked additional questions at the border to enter the EU. Your passport may be stamped on entry and exit. This will not affect your rights in the country or countries where you live or work. If a passport is stamped, the stamp is considered null and void when you can show evidence of lawful residence.

If you have rights under the Withdrawal Agreement, you can enter and exit Spain with a valid passport. You do not need any additional validity on the passport beyond the dates on which you are travelling.

Children travelling from Spain

Children (under 18 years old) resident in Spain, who travel out of Spain without a person who has parental responsibility, may need a certified authorisation by that person. This is required in addition to a valid travel document.

The regulation does not apply to foreign children resident in Spain who are subject to the law of their country of nationality, or to non-resident foreign children visiting Spain.

The Spanish immigration authorities are aware that there is no similar standard regulation in the UK, and therefore British consulates do not provide travel authorisation documents.

British children do not need written permission to travel unless they are subject to a court order which states that written permission is required from those holding parental responsibility. If the child is subject to such a court order, or to ensure that an unaccompanied child will be able to leave Spain without delay, you must obtain a certified authorisation from a public notary in Spain.

If you have parental responsibility for Spanish children in Spain, you can obtain a certified authorisation at a notary, national police station (in Spanish, or at the Guardia Civil (in Spanish).

Flight discounts for residents in Canary Islands, Balearic Islands, Ceuta and Melilla

Read the Spanish government’s guidance on who is eligible to access discounts on flights (in Spanish), and on how this has changed for UK nationals since 1 January 2021.

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