After You Arrive

Empadronamiento: Registering Your Address in Spain

Everyone who lives in Spain must register their address at the town hall. This page shows the steps in Barcelona for students from India and Pakistan.

Registration Basics

Empadronamiento in Spain

Empadronamiento is your entry on the padrón, the town's list of the people who live there. It proves where you live.

When to Register

In Barcelona: when you have the home where you will live.

Where You Register

You register at the town hall of the town where you live.

Town hall (ayuntamiento)

Keeps the padrón. In Barcelona you go to a Citizen Advice Centre (OAC).

Foreigners' Office (Oficina de Extranjería) or police station

Where you ask for your TIE (Tarjeta de Identidad de Extranjero, the foreigner identity card). You go in person. You need an address in Spain first.

Step-by-Step Guide

How to Register Your Address

The steps are much the same in each town. Barcelona is the example here.

Find a home

Get your papers

Your passport and a paper that links you to the address, such as your rental contract.

Book an appointment

Barcelona: book a slot at a Citizen Advice Centre (OAC).

Register

The town hall puts you on the padrón. In Barcelona this is free.

Qogent Advisor Tip

Before you move in, ask the owner (landlord) for a rental contract that the town hall accepts.

Required Documents

Papers for Empadronamiento

What you bring to the town hall. This list is for Barcelona.

Your ID

Passport (the only ID accepted in Barcelona for people from outside the EU)

Proof of your address (Barcelona)

A rental contract for at least 6 months, with a copy of the owner's ID
Or a signed letter of permission from the owner or from the person who rents the home, with their ID

Important Information