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PADRON

Should non-residents in Spain register on the padrón?

So you're a non-resident second-home owner in Spain wondering if you should register on the padrón, the census from your local town hall? This is what you should be aware of beforehand.

Published: 30 January 2024 12:40 CET
Updated: 4 February 2024 07:26 CET
Should non-residents in Spain register on the padrón?
Owning a property in Spain doesn't mean you have to register at the town hall where it's located, in other words you don't have to get onto the padrón. Photo: Miguel Ángel Sanz/Unsplash

Spain’s padrón certificate is basically proof which shows where you are living. Your town hall – or ayuntamiento – uses a type of census to find how many people are living in the area and what their ages are.

The number of people living in each area will depend on how much money your local town hall will receive from the government. They can use this money for local services such as schools, health centres, parks and police officers.

You also need your padrón certificate to be able to carry out certain procedures in Spain such as registering at your local health centre, getting a Spanish driving licence, voting in elections (if you’re eligible), getting a local library card and getting a pensioner’s card for example.

READ ALSO – Padrón: 16 things you should know about Spain’s town hall registration

Residents must apply for their padrón within three months of moving to the country, but what about non-residents who own second homes in Spain? Should they register too?

As a non-resident second-home owner in Spain, you won’t be eligible for many of the things you need your padrón for like registering with a health centre or voting in elections, but you may still want to benefit from getting a library or pensioner’s card for example.

If you are in either the Canary Islands or the Balearic Islands, then getting this certificate can also get you big discounts on transport costs such as flights and ferries.

There’s nothing to stop non-residents from registering on the padrón and in fact, local town halls are more than happy for you to register, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you should.

READ ALSO – Padrón: How to register at your town hall in Spain

Being on the padrón does not affect your residency status in Spain and has nothing to do with residency permits, visas or EU green certificates. This means that registering doesn’t automatically make you a resident. However, it is still sometimes used as residency proof and certain authorities may take your registration to mean you’re living here on a long-term basis. 

The padrón is designed for residents, meaning people who permanently live in Spain. Just like you’re not allowed to be registered for two different areas in Spain, you shouldn’t be registered as living in two different countries either.

Article 15 of Law 7/1985, on the Bases of Local Regime states that: “Every person who lives in Spain is obliged to register in the padrón of the municipality in which they habitually reside. Anyone who lives in several municipalities must register only in the one they live in for the longest time per year”.

If you don’t habitually live in Spain for the longest amount of time per year, then it stands to reason that you shouldn’t be registering here as if you do.

Although registering can bring you several benefits, if you’re a non-resident, it could bring you several headaches too.

In theory, there aren’t any tax implications to being on padrón and it doesn’t automatically make you a tax resident.

Nevertheless, the padrón can also be used as proof for people to show they live in Spain full-time, so if you are registered you may be asked to prove that you’re not a tax resident here.

READ ALSO: How to prove you’re not a tax resident in Spain

Being on the padrón can also have an impact on tax exemptions. For example, if you choose to move to Spain permanently and apply for residency at a later date, Spain’s Hacienda may not give you the one-year exemption on import duties for the first year to bring over belongings at a cheaper cost, as they’ll assume you’ve already been living here.

Most lawyers in Spain advise their non-resident clients against registering and Brexpats in Spain head Anne Hernández told The Local Spain “as a cautionary word of warning, check out what your obligations might be before registering on the padrón if you are not yet a full-time resident here”.

Registering also means you may have issues if you decide to bring your car over to Spain as the police may see you as a resident with a UK-plated vehicle. This can cause various problems, including for those who want to drive over to Gibraltar and back.

“If you are a second home owner registered on the padrón check your rights before bringing your UK-plated vehicle into Spain” Hernández cautions.

READ ALSO: Can I buy a car in Spain if I’m not a resident?

According to the Consejo de Empadronamiento from Spain’s National Statistics Office (INE), “It can be deduced that the padrón is an administrative registry where only people who live in Spain must be included, as has already been reiterated on numerous occasions by the Permanent Commission of the Registration Council”.

It goes on to say that if the City Council is aware that people who do not reside there are registered in its municipality, it should carry out the necessary actions and operations to keep its padrón updated and deregister those who shouldn’t be on there due to improper registration.

Remember that if you’re a non-resident and you do have to register for any particular reason, you should de-register soon afterwards, so that you’re not permanently on the list as living here. 

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For members

TRAVEL NEWS

Reader question: What will EES mean for foreigners living in Europe?

The EU's new Entry & Exit System (EES) of enhanced passport controls is due to come into force later this year, but among many questions that remain is the situation for non-EU nationals who live in the EU or Schengen zone.

Published: 27 April 2024 07:59 CEST
Reader question: What will EES mean for foreigners living in Europe?

Currently scheduled to start in autumn 2024 (unless it’s delayed again, which is not unlikely) the EU’s new Entry & Exit System is basically an enhanced passport check at external EU borders, including a facial scan and fingerprinting.

You can find a full explanation of the new system HERE.

Travellers crossing an external EU or Schengen border for the first time will be required to complete EES ‘pre-registration’ formalities including that facial scan and fingerprinting.

There are, however, several groups exempt from EES and one of them is non-EU nationals who have a residency permit or long-stay visa for an EU country.

So if you’re a foreigner living in the EU or Schengen zone, here’s what you need to know.

Exempt

One of the stated aims of EES is to tighten up enforcement of over-staying – IE, people who stay longer than 90 days in every 180 without a visa, or those who overstay the limits of their visa.

Obviously these limits do not apply to non-EU nationals who are resident in the EU or Schengen zone, which is why this group is exempt from EES checks. They will instead be required to show their passport and residency permit/visa when crossing a border, just as they do now.

In its explanations of how EES will work, the European Commission is clear – exempt groups include non-EU residents of the Bloc.

A Commission spokesman told The Local: “Non-EU citizens residing in the EU are not in the scope of the EES and will not be subject to pre-enrollment of data in the EES via self-service systems. The use of automation remains under the responsibility of the Member States and its availability in border crossing points is not mandatory.

“When crossing the borders, holders of EU residence permits should be able to present to the border authorities their valid travel documents and residence permits.”

How this will work

How this will work on the ground, however, is a lot less clear.

Most ports/airports/terminals have two passport queues – EU and non-EU. It remains unclear whether the non-EU queue will have a separate section for those who are exempt from EES.

It does seem clear that exempt groups will not be able to use the automated passport scanners – since those cannot scan additional documents like residency permits – but should instead use manned passport booths. However it is not clear whether these will be available at all airports/ports/terminals or how non-EU residents of the EU will be directed to those services.

There’s also the issue that individual border guards are not always clear on the processes and rules for non-EU residents of the EU – even under the current system it’s relatively commonly for EU residents to have their passports incorrectly stamped or be given incorrect information about passport stamping by border guards.

Brits in particular will remember the immediate post-Brexit period when the processes as described by the EU and national authorities frequently did not match what was happening on the ground.

The Local will continue to try and get answers on these questions. 

READ ALSO What will EES mean for dual nationals

What if I live in the EU but I don’t have a visa/residency permit?

For most non-EU citizens, having either a visa or a residency permit is obligatory in order to be legally resident.

However, there is one exception: UK citizens who were legally resident in the EU prior to the end of the Brexit transition period and who live in one of the “declaratory” countries where getting a post-Brexit residency card was optional, rather than compulsory. Declaratory countries include Germany and Italy.

Although it is legal for people in this situation to live in those countries without a residency permit, authorities already advise people to get one in order to avoid confusion/hassle/delays at the border. Although EES does not change any rules relating to residency or travel, it seems likely that it will be more hassle to travel without a residency card than it is now.

Our advice? Things are going to be chaotic enough, getting a residency permit seems likely to save you a considerable amount of hassle.

Delays 

Although residents of the EU do not need to complete EES formalities, they will be affected if the new system causes long queues or delays at the border.

Several countries have expressed worries about this, with the UK-France border a particular cause for concern.

READ ALSO Travellers could face ’14 hours queues’ at UK-France border

Where does it apply?

EES is about external EU/Schengen borders, so does not apply if you are travelling within the Schengen zone – eg taking the train from France to Germany or flying from Spain to Sweden.

Ireland and Cyprus, despite being in the EU, are not in the Schengen zone so will not be using EES, they will continue to stamp passports manually.

Norway, Switzerland and Iceland – countries that are in the Schengen zone but not in the EU – will be using EES.

The full list of countries using EES is: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

Therefore a journey between any of the countries listed above will not be covered by EES.

However a journey in or out of any of those countries from a country not listed above will be covered by EES.

You can find our full Q&A on EES HERE.

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