British Embassy Madrid

ATTENTION BRITISH NATIONALS

NEW LEGISLATION DOES AWAY WITH REQUIREMENT OF RESIDENCE CARDS FOR EU RESIDENTS IN SPAIN

New decree establishes requirement for British Nationals and other EU citizens planning to reside in Spain to register with Spanish authorities.

Royal Decree 240/2007 approved on February 16 th 2007 by the Spanish Council of Ministers establishes that from March 28 th 2007, European Union citizens will no longer be issued with residence cards. However, the new decree requires all EU citizens planning to reside in Spain for more than 3 months to register in person at the Foreigners' Office (Oficina de Extranjeros) in their province of residence or at designated police stations.

They will be issued a certificate stating their name, address, nationality, identity number and date of registration.

Those EU citizens in Spain who already have residence cards will not need to re-register until their existing residence card expires upon which they will be issued with a certificate.

We recommend British citizens in Spain to always carry with them some proof of identity.

Royal Decree 240/2007 is a transposition of European

Directive 2004/38/EC to Spanish legislation.