Having an empadronamiento in Spain is one of the most important paperwork you will need in this country.
All it is is a piece of paper saying where you live, so you are on the system, and the government can use this to see and keep an eye on who is living in their town.
How to get it and steps to follow
It's very simple to get. All you have to do is go to your local town hall with your passport and an address.
But watch out, the paperwork you are given runs out after 3 months, but you will only need to renew it if you need for anything, i.e buying a property, changing ownership of a car, etc.
If after the 3 months, you need a new empadronamiento, all you will need to do is go in with your ID to the town hall and ask for a new one. Once you are on the system, it's very easy to get one.
If you do not need to renew it for anything, you will probably receive a letter after 2 years asking you to pop into the town hall to just assure them you are still at the same property.
Over the years, a few people have left the country and not let the town hall know, so there were still many people that were still on the system, even if they weren't living here. So now they make sure, especially us Brits, that we check in on them now and then.
Although the paperwork runs out after 3 months, don't worry, you will still be on the system. Just if you do change address, make sure you inform them.
3 ways of getting an Empadron
There are a few ways of doing this procedure:
- If you have brought a property, all you will have to do is go in with the property deeds (escritura) and the passports of each person you are looking to empadron at the property.
- If you are renting, you must take in the rental agreement, signed by the owner. You will need to take in the passports or each individual you are looking to empadron at the property.
- If you are staying with someone and not renting or buying, you will need to get from the town hall an authorization form which you will need to fill out and has to be signed by the owner, who will be agreeing to let you empadron yourself and anyone else at their property. In this case, you will need to take in a photocopy, or the original, of the property owners ID. (If Spanish, it would be the DNI, if English, whichever one they have, passport, or if they have one, NIE, depending on what document they used to empadron themselves).
Please note,
If you are empadroning yourself on someone else's property, always make sure they are empadroned themselves.
