IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: All information is presented in good faith and to the best of our knowledge. Please consult professional entities, especially re: bureaucratic and legal matters to ensure the information is accurate.

Interesting statistic: Acording to the free daily paper "20 Minutos*" (8th Feb 2006) 603,636 foreigners have residency cards in Spain. Out of these, 78,000 are EU citizens with Italians coming in at number one, followed by French, Rumanians, Ucranians and Bulgarians.
*Note: I recognise, "20 minutos" is not the most reliable source, but it is interesting nonetheless!

EU citizens NIEs: Citizens of the European Union are not required to get a visa for Spain since they already have the right to residency.

Prior to March 2003, all EU citizens were obliged to obtain a NIE (Número de Identidad de Extranjero) AND a residency card (Tarjeta de Residente Comunitario).

Whilst officially the "Tarjeta de Communitario" is no longer need, few people on the street know this and will often refuse to some of the simplest transactions for you (I once had a measely post woman refuse to hand me over my certified letter, eventhough she came to my home, and I showed her my NIE, mypassport but she wanted my residency card!)

You will be asked for your NIE (fiscal number) on numerous occasions: as a form of ID (to open up a bank account, to pay using a card,for employment purposes etc. Refer to our NIE section for more details.

Non-EU citizens visiting Spain need a visa (visado) in order to enter and visit Spain, unless there exists a special agreement between Spain and your home country.

• Click on the link for a complete list of NON-EU countries NOT requiring a visa for Spain. If you are one of these nationalities, you can usually enter Spain without a visa and stay for up to 90 days in any 6-month period.
• Click on the link for a complete list of countries requiring a visa for Spain.