What the padrón is and who has to be on it
The padrón municipal is the administrative register of a municipality's residents. Being on it is called empadronamiento. It is not permission to occupy a home. It is a record of where you actually live. You register in the municipality where you usually live, and if you live in several, in the one where you spend most of the year.
You become a resident of the municipality at the moment you are entered in the padrón (art. 15 LBRL; art. 55 of the Reglamento). Unemancipated minors share the residence of the parent who has custody (art. 54.2 of the Reglamento).
Why the padrón matters
- Proof of where you live. Under art. 16.1 LBRL, padrón data are proof of residence in the municipality and of your usual address, and certificates issued from them are public, authoritative documents for all administrative purposes.
- Healthcare. Art. 12 LO 4/2000 gives foreigners the right to healthcare «en los términos previstos en la legislación vigente en materia sanitaria». How the health card is issued and which papers are asked for is set by your region's health service, so check there whether you need a certificado de empadronamiento.
- School. Foreign children under sixteen have the right and duty to be educated, and under eighteen the right to post-compulsory education too (art. 9.1 LO 4/2000). A child's address is shown with documents, and the padrón is the most practical one.
- Municipal services. Residents may use municipal public services according to their nature (art. 18.1.c LBRL).
Registration does not depend on your status, and it does not give you one
Art. 15 LBRL says «toda persona»: anyone living in Spain. The rules do not make registration conditional on holding a residence permit. But the padrón does not work the other way round either:
Which documents are usually asked for
The rules do not set a closed list. Art. 59.2 of the Reglamento lets the town hall check your details by asking for any of these:
| Document | What it is for |
|---|---|
| ID: passport, foreigner identity card (TIE), EU citizen registration certificate | To prove who you are. The padrón records the foreigner ID number on the document issued by Spanish authorities or, failing that, the passport number (art. 57.1.f of the Reglamento) |
| Libro de familia or birth certificate | To prove family ties, especially when registering children |
| A document showing your right to occupy the home | To show on what basis you live there: tenancy agreement, ownership, etc. |
| Other similar documents (otros documentos análogos) | The wording is open. What is accepted is up to each town hall |
You apply on a hoja padronal (padrón form), on paper or electronically, signed by every resident whose details appear on it (arts. 58 and 59 of the Reglamento).
Can you register without a rental contract?
A contract is named in the rules as one document proving you occupy a home, but not the only one: the list is open and includes «otros documentos análogos». So having no contract does not by itself close the door to the padrón. The technical instructions to town halls (Resolution of 17 February 2020 of the INE and the Dirección General de Cooperación Autonómica y Local, BOE-A-2020-4784, sections 2.3 and 3.1) say the document serves only as proof that you live there, that the town hall may accept other documents or check residence itself, and that if other people are already registered at the address, a written authorisation from an adult registered there is asked for instead of a contract. These are guidelines, not a law, so practice in your town hall may differ. Full guide: Registering on the padrón without a rental contract.
Certificado or volante: what is the difference
Both are issued by the town hall, but they do not carry the same weight:
| Certificado de empadronamiento | Volante de empadronamiento | |
|---|---|---|
| Nature | A certification: a public, authoritative document for all administrative purposes (art. 16.1 LBRL; art. 53.1 of the Reglamento) | A purely informative document |
| Issued by | The town hall secretary or the official standing in (art. 61 of the Reglamento); it may also be issued by automated administrative action | The formalities of a certification are not required |
| When it works | When an office or body demands official proof | For your own information or where information is enough. If a procedure asks for a certificado, a volante will not do |
If you ask to change your padrón details, you can request a volante, which is handed over as soon as the change has been made (art. 61 of the Reglamento).
Validity, renewal and moving
Your registration is effective only as long as the fact that justified it lasts, that is, while you live at that address (art. 54 bis.1 of the Reglamento).
You must tell the town hall about changes to the details that are mandatory in the padrón (art. 68 of the Reglamento). If you move to another municipality, you apply for registration there and the previous one removes you without further steps (art. 70 of the Reglamento).