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RESIDENCY PERMITS

How to travel to Spain if your residency document has expired

What happens if you want to travel, but your Spanish residency document has expired or you're waiting for it to be renewed? Will you still be allowed back into the country? Here's how to make sure you can return to Spain.

Published: 2 May 2022 12:50 CEST
Updated: 10 August 2023 17:12 CEST
How to travel to Spain if your residency document has expired
How to travel to Spain if residency document has expired? Photo: Pau BARRENA / AFP

The short answer is yes, you can return to Spain. As long as you have a valid passport that is in date, you will still be able to travel out of Spain and return again.

However, you will need to apply for an autorización de regreso or re-entry permit.  

Non-EU citizens should get a TIE if they live in Spain. This will either be a temporary residence document valid for five years or a permanent one, valid for 10 years. When this document expires, you will have to renew it and if you have to travel during this time, you will need to apply for the autorización de regreso.

READ ALSO: Can I travel to Spain if my passport has expired?

What is an autorización de regreso?

According to the Spanish government the autorización de regreso is a document authorising foreign residents to be able to exit and return to Spain during a period of renewal or extension or their residence card such as a TIE.

It is generally needed when you want to return to Spain by plane or ferry, as residency documents are usually not checked at Spain’s land borders.

This is a document that only gives you the right to return to Spain, it doesn’t have anything to do with your permission to enter other EU countries.

In order to be eligible to apply for the autorización de regreso you must:

  • Be the holder of a residence document and have initiated the renewal or extension process of the authorisation that enables you to remain in Spain within the legal term.
  • Be the holder of a valid foreign identity card and have submitted a request for a duplicate card due to theft, loss, destruction or expiry.
  • Prove that the trip responds to a situation of need and there are exceptional reasons why you need to travel during this time.
  • Have your initial residence or authorisation favourably resolved.

You may also need to apply for a return permit if you’re newly arrived in Spain and haven’t received your TIE card yet, but need to return to your home country or travel while you’re waiting.

READ ALSO: Can I travel to Spain if my passport has expired?

The Spanish government states that: “An autorización de regreso may not be granted to foreigners who are subject to a ban on leaving Spain or a limitation on their freedom of movement agreed by the Judicial Authority as a precautionary measure or in an extradition process, or as a result of a final judgment”. 

What is the application process?  

You can apply for the autorización de regreso at any public registry, immigration office (extranjería) or the police station corresponding to the province where you are registered.

You will usually need to get a prior appointment or cita previa beforehand, so make sure you do it as soon as possible as it may take longer than expected to get an appointment if you’re in a part of Spain with a large foreign population. When you get your appointment, you will need to take with you the following:

  • Application form – modelo EX-13 in duplicate, completed and signed.   
  • A copy of the complete passport or registration card or valid travel document.
  • A copy of the request for the renewal or extension of the foreign identity card, or proof of its presentation.
  • Supporting documentation to show that the trip responds to a situation of need and there are exceptional circumstances.

Remember that as well as the documents above, you will generally need photocopies as well as the originals. You will also need to pay the associated fee of €10.30 and download the Modelo 790 in order for the fee to be processed.  

How long will the process take?

Usually, your authorisation will either be granted on the spot or within a few days, however when it comes to Spanish bureaucracy, there are often delays, so be aware that it could take up to two weeks if the police have many other applications to process at the same time.

How long is the authoristaion valid for?  

According to Spain’s National Police website, “it will be valid for no more than ninety days (3 months) from the expiration of the residence or stay permit, if requested prior to said expiration”.

The return authorisation may be used for all the departures and the subsequent returns that are required during its validity.

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For members

TOURISM

How much more expensive will holidays in Spain be this summer?

Whether it be hotel prices rising or shortages in the aviation sector making flights more expensive, a summer vacation in Spain this year is likely to cost more than last year.

Published: 25 April 2024 09:13 CEST
How much more expensive will holidays in Spain be this summer?

With lingering inflation, drought conditions, rising rents and building social tension surrounding the impact of mass tourism on Spanish society, summer 2024 could be an eventful one in Spain for a number of reasons.

It will probably also be more expensive than it was in the past, especially if you’re staying in a hotel or tourist apartment.

This follows a bumper Easter period that saw high occupancy and price rises across the country, and if forecasts and industry experts are anything to go by, it’s a trend that will continue into the summer season.

READ ALSO: ‘The island can’t take it anymore’: Why Tenerife is rejecting mass tourism

Hotel prices March increased by 10 percent compared to the same period in 2023, and have now experienced 34 consecutive months of price increases.

The average hotel room in Spain during March cost €109.2 per night, according to Hotel Tourism Situation data published by Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE).

How much more expensive will flights to Spain be this summer?

Firstly, flights. Aviation industry experts suggest that a perfect storm of conditions could cause the price of flights to increase for summer 2024. A shortage of commercial planes, caused mainly by a combination of problems on Boeing’s production line and Airbus having difficulties with engine manufacturers, will likely drive up prices around the world.

These “are factors that don’t make it easy for prices to fall,” according to Pere Suau, professor of Economics and Business Studies at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, who admitted that “it is difficult to measure the extent to which” they will go up. The key, in Suau’s opinion, is to see how demand will be affected by price rises. “As of today prices are rising, but demand is tolerating it, demand continues to grow,” he adds.

Reports in the Spanish media suggest that prices on budget airlines like Ryanair could rise by around 10 percent.

READ ALSO: EasyJet opens Spanish base in Alicante with ten new routes

How much more expensive will hotels in Spain be this summer?

So, flights will likely be more expensive this year. But what about hotels?

It’s difficult to say exactly by how much hotel prices will have risen by summer, but most estimates put it at somewhere in the 8-12 percent range, depending on factors such as location, occupancy, type of accommodation (ie. is it luxury or budget) and length of stay.

However, despite that, most experts seem to think the price rises will be slightly less than the 2023-23 year-on-year increases, when average hotel room costs shot up by 16.5 percent, according to statistics from SRT and Cushman & Wakefield.

Albert Grau, partner at Cushman & Wakefield’s Hospitality department in Spain, told El Periódico de España that: ‘We expect there to continue to be growth in prices… although it will be more moderate, in single digits, compared to the large increase in the last year.”

Spanish news outlet La Sexta reports that hotel rooms in the summer will be on average 11 percent more than last year, according to figures from INE and Travelgate.

Forecasts by American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT) put Barcelona, long a popular tourist destination, among European cities where a significant increase in hotel prices is expected, with a projected rise of 9 percent. Other Spanish cities, such as Bilbao and Valencia, are forecast to see price jumps of around 8.5 percent.

In Andalusia, hotel sector insiders in Andalusia are expecting a 7 percent increase overall this summer, according to Trinitario Bertore, director of Hotel Plaza Nueva in Granada, who spoke to La Sexta. Bertore said a night’s stay in a hotel in Andalusia can now cost up to €210, a 7 percent rise compared to last summer.

José Luis Contreras, managing director of Apartamentos Valencia Costera, said prices in tourist flats in Valencia will also rise by around 7 percent and even reach an eye-watering €350 per night in the high season.

Both Bertore and Contreras said that there’s no need to lower prices because demand is increasing, despite the per night rate increases.

It seems clear that accommodation will likely be a more expensive for summer 2024 in Spain than it was last year, though the year-on-year rise will slow slightly. Most forecasts put the average expected hotel price rises at roughly 10-11 percent overall.

By exactly how much will depend on several factors: where you’re staying, and whether it’s a traditional tourist spot such as parts of Andalusia, Alicante, Valencia or the Canary and Balearic Islands; whether it’s a hotel or apartment; the quality of the accommodation; how long you’re staying; how far in advance you book; when exactly in the summer season you’ll visit Spain.

Aviation industry uncertainty also means that flights will become more expensive, so both travel and accommodation are likely to be more expensive in Spain this summer.

Tourism makes up a significant portion of Spain’s GDP. Predicted tourism earnings for 2024 are expected to bring in €202.65 billion, an 8.6 percent increase on 2023, a record year.

However, growing anti-mass tourism sentiment has been bubbling in Spanish society for some time now, with protests in various cities around the country decrying the impact, among other things, of Spain’s tourism model on the local housing market.

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