Guidance

Spain: Knowledge Base profile

Updated 29 July 2025

Version 12.0

About: Spain

This document contains useful information about Spain which will assist His Majesty’s Passport Office staff process passport applications.

Contacts

If you have any questions about the document and your line manager or senior caseworker cannot help you or you think that the document has factual errors then email the Guidance team.

If you notice any formatting errors in this document (broken links, spelling mistakes and so on) or have any comments about the layout or navigability of the document then you can email the Guidance team.

Publication

Below is information on when this version of the document was published:

• version 12.0
• published for Home Office staff on 20 June 2025

Changes from last version of this document

This guidance has been updated to:

• show more locations issuing digital documents
• show the Spanish Ministry of Justice have an online portal to verify documents
• make terminology changes and remove areas outside Spain from the digital documents table
• explain what a Multilingual Standard Form is and that HM Passport Office cannot accept them
• include consulates and regions which now issue digital documents

Spain: names

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about names in Spain.

Names in Spain consist of:

• up to 2 forenames (some Registry Offices may allow one of the forenames to be hyphenated)
• surname, containing both the Father and Mother’s first surname

Spain has a naming convention known as a Hispanic naming convention. A child’s surname must contain both the father’s and mother’s first surname. This is usually the father’s surname first followed by the mother’s but the parents can choose to have the surnames in any order. The customer cannot drop a surname or add a hyphen to their surname.

When both parents are not Spanish the Registry Officer will normally follow the law of the parents’ country. This means the child could have a single surname.

If the father is not known or the father does not acknowledge the child, the child will take both of the (Spanish) mother’s surnames. If the mother is not Spanish, the law of the mother’s country will be followed.

Since 8 July 1994 parents are able to register children with foreign (non-Spanish names) versions of their forename. Before 8 July 1994 all forenames had to be translated into Spanish.

The name shown on the birth registration (the Certificado Literal) is the name used for all official purposes.

Change of name

Name changes are only allowed in Spain under strict conditions.

If a child is registered without a father’s surname and paternity is confirmed later, the child’s name can be changed to include the father’s name as their first or second surname.

Married women normally retain their own surnames. They may occasionally combine their first surname with their husband’s first surname for social use. For example, Carmen Pérez Rodriguez marrying Juan García López, could use ‘Carmen Pérez de García’ socially. However, this is not their legal name and should not show on a passport or national ID card.

Name alignment

Where the variation in name is due to the Spain naming convention HM Passport Office will not ask the customer to align their foreign documents.

Where the applicant has changed their name in a way which is completely different from that recorded in their Spain passport the customer must approach the foreign authorities to align their documents. For example, full name change, first name change, surname does not match any element noted in the Spain passport.

Where a person is no longer resident in Spain, a change of name may be completed at the Spain Consulate where the person is resident, but only under strict conditions. This may include when a name is detrimental to the person, or in cases of gender violence.

If the person is a minor (under the age of 18 in the law of Spain) both parents will need to sign the application to support the change of name.

Spain: nationality

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about nationality in Spain.

Spain allows dual nationality with a small number of countries. These include:

• countries in America where Spanish or Portuguese is the official language
• the Philippines
• Equatorial Guinea
• Puerto Rico
• Portugal
• Andorra

A person who previously renounced their Spanish nationality can regain it.

Spain: legitimacy and parental responsibility

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about legitimacy and parental responsibility in Spain.

Legitimacy

Since 27 December 1978, Spain does not recognise a difference between legitimate and illegitimate births. All children born on or after this date are considered legitimate from birth, whether a child’s parents are married or not.

Parental responsibility

Both parents share parental responsibility when they are married. If the child’s parents have never married and both are named on the birth certificate they will share parental responsibility.  If the parents’ divorce or separate parental responsibility is determined:

• at the request of both parents, in a Regulating Agreement (convenio regulado), which must be approved by the courts
• by a court decision if the parents cannot decide who will have parental responsibility

Spain: adoption

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about adoption in Spain.

Adoption is legal in Spain.

Adoptive parents must be residents of Spain and remain in the country for the duration of the adoption proceedings.

International adoptions are prohibited from certain countries, decided by the Cross-regional Committee.

Spain: surrogacy

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about surrogacy in Spain.

Surrogacy is illegal in Spain.

Judicial authorisation must be received for children born through surrogacy arrangements outside of Spain to be registered in the country.

Spain: gender recognition

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about gender recognition in Spain.

Transgender citizens are recognised in Spain. They can state the gender of choice on their documents and can adapt their name on their birth certificate to match the gender.

Spain: civil partnerships and marriage

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about civil partnerships in Spain.

Same sex marriages have been legal in Spain since 2005.

Recognised registered partnerships between same sex and opposite sex couples are also recognised in some regions. These are known as a Pareja de Hecho. A Pareja de Hecho does not alter the person’s marital status, therefore it does not need to be cancelled to marry.

There are both religious and civil marriages in Spain.

Spain: documents

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about documents from Spain.

HM Passport Office cannot accept Multilingual Standard Forms (MSFs) issued by EU member states. An MSF is a translation aid to help another EU member state to understand a public document in a different language.

Birth certificates

All births are registered in Spain. A birth in Spain is usually registered in the local registry where the parents of the child are residents, which may not be the same place where the child was born. The place of birth for the Spanish authorities is the place where the child was registered and not where the child was born.

Births registration must happen:

• after the first 24 hours; and,
• on or before the 8th day
• before 30 days, if there are exceptional circumstances
• through a process known as Fuera de Plazo if registration does not happen with 30 days

Spain issues 2 types of birth certificates:

• Extract (Nacimiento), similar to a UK short birth certificate (not acceptable for HM Passport Office purposes)
• Literal, (known as a ‘Certificacion Literal’) (acceptable for HM Passport Office purposes), the Certificacion Literal contains:
  • name
  • surnames
  • date of birth
  • name of the parents
  • name of the grandparents
  • the hospital where the child was born
  • the marital status of the parents
  • any other marginal notes that affect that person (for example, amendments)

A digital copy of the ‘Certificacion Literal’ is also available.

Verifying digital documents from Spain

The Spanish Ministry of Justice have an online portal to verify documents. This is done by entering the Secure Verification Code (SVC) and date of issue shown on the certificate where the boxes tell you to when you open the portal.

Copies of birth certificates can be obtained. There are some certificates exceptions, and there are some certificates that will require a special authorisation and will only be given to a person who has a legitimate interest. These cases are as follows:

• adoption
• change of name of “Exposito”, which were previously given to children who had not been recognised by the father
• change of gender

Many areas and Spanish consulates outside Spain issue digital versions of birth certificates. Other regions of Spain are in the process of moving to digital documents. As of June 2025, regions and consulates issuing digital documents include:

Spanish region or consulate	Province
Madrid region
	Madrid Alcalá de Henares Alcobendas Alcorcón Aranjuez Arganda del Rey Collado Villalba Colmenar Viejo Coslada Fuenlabrada Getafe Leganés Majadahonda Móstoles Navalcarnero Parla Pozuelo de Alarcón San Lorenzo de El Escorial Torrejón de Ardoz Torrelaguna Valdemoro
Catalonia
Barcelona province	Barcelona Arenys de Mar Badalona Berga Cerdanyola del Vallès Cornellà de Llobregat Esplugues de Llobregat Gavà Granollers Hospitalet de Llobregat Manresa Martorell Mataró Mollet del Vallès El Prat de Llobregat Rubí Sabadell Sant Feliu de Llobregat Sant Boi de Llobregat Santa Coloma de Gramenet Terrassa Vic Vilafranca del Pendès Vilanova i la Geltrú
Tarragona province	Tarragona Amposta Falset Gandesa Reus Tortosa El Vendrell
Girona province	Girona Blanes Figueres Olot Puigcerdàm Ripoll Santa Coloma de Farners
Lledia province	Lleida Cervera Solsona  Tremp La Seu d’Urgell Vielha e Mijaran
Murcia
Murcia región	Murcia Caravaca de la Cruz Cartagena Cieza Jumilla Lorca Molina de Segura Mula San Javier Totana Yecla
Basque Country
Bizkaia province	Bilbao Barakaldo Balmaseda Durango Gernika-Lumo Getxo
Gipuzkoa province	Donostia/San Sebastián Azpeitia Bergara Eibar Irun Tolosa
Alaba/Alava province	Vitoria-Gasteiz Amurrio
Navarra
Navarre región	Aoiz/Agoitz Estella/Lizarra Pamplona Tafalla Tudela
Canary Islands
Gran Canaria province	Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Arrecife Arucas Puerto del Rosario San Bartolomé de Tirajana  Santa María de Guía Telde
Tenerife province	Santa Cruz de Tenerife Arona Granadilla de Abona Güímar Icod de los Vinos  Los Llanos de Aridane La Orotava Santa Cruz de la Palma San Sebastían de la Gomera  San Cristóbal de la Laguna Puerto de la Cruz  Valverde
Galicia
Pontevedra province	Pontevedra Caldas de Reis Cambados Cangas A Estrada Lalín Marín O Porriño Ponteareas Redondela Tui Vilagarcía de Arousa Vigo
A Coruña province	A Coruña Arzúa Betanzos Carballo Corcubión  Ferrol Muros Noia Ordes Padrón  Ribeira Santiago de Compostela
Lugo province	Lugo Becerreá Chantada  A Fonsagrada   Mondoñedo Monforte de Lemos  Vilalba   Viveiro
Ourense province	Ourense Bande O Barco de Valdeorras   Celanova   O Carballiño   A Pobra de Trives Ribadavia  Verin Xinzo de Limia
Valencia
Valencia province	Valencia Alzira  Catarroja  Gandia  Moncada  Paterna Sagunt  Sueca  Torrent
Alicante province	Alicante/Alacant Benidorm  Dénia Elche/Elx Elda Novelda Orihuela San Vicente del Raspeig
Castellon province	Castellón de la Plana/Castelló de la Plana  Nules
Baleares
Mallorca (Majorca)	Palma de Mallorca Inca Manacor
Menorca (Minorca)	Maó-Mahón Ciutadella de Menorca
Ibiza	Eivissa
Andalucia
Cordoba province	Aguilar de la Frontera Baena Cabra Lucena Posadas Priego de Córdoba Puente Genil
Jaen province	Alcalá La Real   Baeza Linares Úbeda
Sevilla province	Alcalá de Guadaíra Carmona Dos Hermanas Écija  Lebrija Marchena Sevilla/Seville
Cadiz province	Cádiz Algeciras Arcos de la Frontera   Barbate   El Puerto de Santa María Jerez de la Frontera La Línea de la Concepción Puerto Real Rota San Fernando Ubrique
Malaga province	Málaga Antequera Estepona Fuengirola Marbella Torremolinos
Huelva province	Ayamonte   Moguer   La Palma del Condado   Valverde del Camino
Granada province	Almuñécar  Baza   Huéscar   Loja   Santa Fe
Almeria province	Berja El Ejido Huércal-Overa   Roquetas de Mar Vélez-Rubio
Castilla La Mancha
Guadalajara province	Guadalajara   Molina de Aragón   Sigüenza
Toledo province	Toledo  Illescas Ocaña   Orgaz  Quintanar de la Orden   Talavera de la Reina    Torrijos
Ciudad Real province	Ciudad Real Alcázar de San Juan   Almadén Almagro Daimiel Manzanares Puertollano Tomelloso Valdepeñas Villanueva de los Infantes
Cuenca province	Motilla del Palancar   San Clemente   Tarancón
Albacete province	Albacete Alcaraz Almansa Casas-Ibáñez Hellín La Roda Villarrobledo
La Rioja region
La Rioja region	Logroño Calahorra Haro
Castilla Leon
Burgos province	Aranda de Duero Briviesca Lerma Miranda de Ebro Salas de los Infantes Villarcayo
Salamanca province	Salamanca Béjar   Ciudad Rodrigo   Peñaranda de Bracamonte Vitigudino
Avila province	Arenas de San Pedro   Arévalo   Piedrahíta
Soria province	Burgo de Osma
Palencia province	Carrión de los Condes
Segovia province	Segovia Cuéllar Santa María la Real de Nieva  Sepúlveda
Valladolid province	Valladolid Medina de Rioseco
Zamora province	Benavente Puebla de Sanabria Toro
León province	Astorga Cistiema La Bañeza Ponferrada Sahagún   Villablino
Asturias
Asturias region	Avilés Cangas de Onís Cangas del Narcea  Castropol Gijón Grado Langreo Laviana Lena Llanes Mieres Oviedo Piloña Pravia Siero Valdés Villaviciosa
Cantabria
Cantabria region	Castro-Urdiales Laredo Medio Cudeyo Reinosa San Vicente de la Barquera Satander Santoña Torrelavega
Extremadura
Caceres province	Cáceres Coria Logrosán Navalmoral de la Mata Plasencia
Trujillo Valencia de Alcántara
Badajoz province	Almendralejo Badajoz Castuera Don Benito Fregenal de la Sierra Herrera del Duque Jerez de los Caballeros Llerena Montijo Mérida  Olivenza Villafranca de los Barros Villanueva de la Serena   Zafra
Aragon
Zaragoza province	Zaragoza Calatayud Caspe Daroca Ejea de los Caballeros La Almunia de Doña Godina Tarazona
Teruel province	Teruel Alcañiz Calamocha
Huesca province	Huesca   Barbastro Boltaña   Fraga   Jaca   Monzón
Ceuta	Ceuta
Melilla	Melilla
Andorra	Andorra
France	Bayona Burdeos Montpellier Pau Perpiñán Toulouse Lyon Marseille Paris Strasbourg
Germany	Stuttgart Berlin Düsseldorf Hamburg Frankfurt Munich
Austria	Vienna
Denmark	Copenhague
Sweden	Stockholm
Israel	Jerusalem
Norway	Oslo
India	Mumbai New Delhi
Iran	Tehran
Switzerland	Geneva
Iceland	Helsinki
Italy	Milán Rome
Jordan	Amman
Morocco	Agadir Casablanca Larache Nador Rabat Tánger – Tangiers Tetuán
Portugal	Lisbon Oporto
Paraguay	Asunción
Cuba	Havana
Bolivia	Santa Cruz de la Sierra La Paz
UAE	Abu Dhabi
Oman	Muscat
Senegal	Dakar
Pakistan	Islamabad
Kazakhstan	Astana
Haiti	Port-au-Prince
Canada	Montreal Toronto Ottawa
Trinidad and Tobago	Port of Spain
Puerto Rico	San Juan de Puerto Rico
USA	Miami Washington
UK	London Edinburgh Manchester

Marriage certificates

All marriages in Spain must be registered with the Civil Registry to be legal.

Marriages in Spain:

• are automatically recorded if they take place in:
  • the Registry Office or Town Hall
  • a Roman Catholic church
• that are celebrated in any other religion must be registered by the person who conducted the marriage at the Civil Registry where the marriage took place

Legal Spanish marriage documents are:

• a “Libro de Familia” (Family Book) issued by the Registry Office or Town Hall following a civil marriage. These show:
  • names of the husband and wife
  • date of marriage
  • details of the Registration (Book, entry No and date of registration)
• an ecclesiastical marriage certificate issued by the Roman Catholic church
• a civil marriage certificate known as an ‘Extract’ that includes the name and surnames of the couple, date of marriage and place of marriage. There are three types of extracts:
  • Ordinary: issued in Spanish only
  • International: for those countries signatories of the Vienna Convention 08/09/1976 (this is not acceptable for passport purposes)
  • Bilingual: issued in those regions that have another official language such as Catalonia
• a civil marriage certificate known as a ‘Literal’ that includes the names and surnames of the couple, the date of marriage, marital status of the couple, and in marginal notes any other information that affects that marriage such as legal separation, divorce, nullity of the marriage

Death certificates

Spain issues 2 types of death certificates:

• Extract, showing name and surnames, date of death
• Literal, showing all the details of the death:  name and surnames, date of death, place of death

Identity documents

A citizen of Spain is issued with a Documento nacional de identidad (DNI) or carné de identidad. It is a laminated card or polycarbonate, and it shows:

• the forename of the person
• surnames of the person
• date of birth
• parents
• sex
• residential address
• city and province of birth
• photo
• identification number consisting of 8 digits plus a control letter

Since 2007, all new DNI issued or renewed are electronic identity cards and are called “electronic DNI” or DNIe.

Foreign nationals in Spain are issued with a Número de identificación de extranjero (NIE) or Foreign Identification Number within 3 months of entry into Spain at the Oficina de Extranjeros in their province of residence at designated Police stations.

Foreign nationals are no longer issued with a residence card with a printed photograph. Instead they receive an A4 printed Residence Certificate stating their name, address, nationality, NIE number and date of registration.