El padrón. what is it, how to “empadronarse”, benefits and penalties.
“El padrón” is the administrative register of each city or municipality which contains the details of all registered citizens residing there, irrespective of their nationality.
Where is it regulated?
The register is regulated in the Law of Bases of the Local Regime 7/1985, of 2 April and in Royal Decree 1690/1986, of 11 July, which approves the Regulation of Population and Territorial Demarcation of Local Entities.
This register must be renewed every two years.
The regulation establishes the obligation for all persons living in Spain to register in the register of the municipality where they habitually reside. If a citizen resides in several municipalities during the year, he or she must be registered in the register of the municipality in which he or she resides the longest. The citizens registered in the census are called neighbours. The total number of residents constitutes the population of the municipality.
Its management and processing belongs to the town council of the place of residence and, according to the law, it is compulsory to be registered in the place where you live, and you may incur financial penalties if you fail to comply.
How to register in the Padrón.
This procedure is managed independently by each town hall, which is why the process changes depending on whether you are going to register in one municipality or another.
The local councils in Spain, in these cases, are entities that act autonomously under their own guidelines and management criteria, which is why some councils will only allow the process to be carried out in person, others may offer facilities to do it online and with some of them you will need to make an appointment before starting the process.
Our recommendation is that you consult with our team for a quick, simple and efficient way to complete the procedure, but if you want to do it yourself, we urge you to find out about the requirements for the procedure beforehand through your local council’s official channels (e.g. via the website, telephone or email).
As a general rule, however, you will need documents proving your identity, documents proving your address and its use, a registration application and any other documents required by the local council of your municipality.
Is it legal to be “empadronado” in one place and live in another?
On many occasions it is common that, for various reasons of work, temporary stay in a city, studies, or the simple laziness of starting a bureaucratic procedure with the town hall, we are registered in a different place to the one where we live.
This, although it may seem a common situation, living in a different place to the place where you are registered is illegal, as is the opposite situation of being registered in two different places.
What does the law say about this?
Article 15 of the Ley de Bases del Régimen Local 7/1985, de 2 de abril states that ‘Any person living in Spain is obliged to register in the Padrón of the municipality in which he or she habitually resides. Anyone who lives in several municipalities must register only in the municipality where they live for the longest period of time per year’. In conclusion, one must only be registered in one place of residence, the habitual place of residence, and in the event that the person lives in several municipalities, the one in which he/she lives the longest during the year.
There are penalties for non-compliance with the legal requirement to register. Fines depend on the municipality, which will set penalties according to the number of inhabitants of the municipality and can be up to €150 in certain cases, although if it is proven that the applicant has used false information or has used this method for lucrative purposes, the fine could lead to penalties in some cases to criminal sanctions or considerably higher fines.
What are the benefits of being empadronado?
An empadronamiento accredits that you are a resident of a specific city and although it may not seem important, below we would like to highlight some situations that could occur during your stay in Spain and that could motivate you to modify your empadronamiento in case you are registered in a municipality but live in a different place:
- Problems with public services. Not being registered or being incorrectly registered can hinder future procedures related to civil registration, medical assistance, public education, social assistance, residence permits, visas, public aid, rental subsidies, renewal of ID cards, among others.
- The state and public bodies continue to notify, to a large extent, important communications or notifications in the dwelling where you are registered, for example: traffic fines, court summons, tax notifications, among others. Not being registered correctly can cause you problems with different administrations, as by not receiving such notifications you may be in breach of your legal obligations or be subject to fines and surcharges for not responding correctly to your notifications in due time and form.
- Inability to enjoy the advantages offered by your municipality of residence. Sometimes, if you are not registered in your place of residence, you may not be able to enjoy all the services that your municipality offers you in its public buildings and facilities such as libraries, nurseries, school canteens or public school offers, since you are listed as a resident in another place.
- The padrón is also a necessary document to regulate everything related to your stay in a certain place, important for private or work purposes, as well as residence and work permits, length of stay in a community or country or for those interested in acquiring Spanish residency by residence.
Conclusion
When a person changes their residence, registering in the new home is probably not one of their primary needs, but if the change of residence is permanent or long-term, it is the citizen’s obligation to register in the correct place to avoid legal problems and also to be able to enjoy the advantages that this entails.
At Legal Iuris we have highly qualified and committed professionals who know the bureaucracy of each municipality, as they are in charge of managing all types of procedures on a regular basis, making your stay in Spain more comfortable and avoiding you wasting time on these formalities. For more information you can contact our team who will be happy to help you with any queries you may have.
Contact our team
Contact our lawyers and we will get back to you as soon as possible. We will assess your situation and offer you the advice you need.