Documents needed for Spain

[Airfryerdelight]

Hi, Flying to Spain soon and staying in a couple of places. I know I need to fill in details for airline. One of airbnbs also sent me some documents to fill in before arrival. Seem a Spanish Govt thing.
I am also now wondering what docs we need ready for border control. Have seen sites saying need proof of travel insurance, money to support yourselves whilst there. Anything I am missing?

Has anyone had recent experience with Spain? Not asked for this before so want to make sure.

All I've needed was my passport. Flew last month.

You don’t need anything at border control other than a valid passport which expires more than 3 months away and no more than 10 years old

came back from Spain last week

yes the accomodation will ask you to fill in a form. We did it on arrival but that was a hotel

Are you British ? I’ve just some back from Spain (Gran Canaria ) just needed my passport. Although we did have to pay a small tourist tax at the hotel.

Where are you flying from? You don’t need proof of any of those things to fly from the UK to Spain. You only need a passport.

Just your passport they can ask for insurance documents we usually just have our policy number, you will be fine.

Where are you flying from and what nationality are you? I flew to Spain and back this week from the UK, and needed only my passport, no form filling. Stayed at an Airbnb - again no form filling. It may be different for you depending on where you are flying from.

Have you not been abroad before?

The form filling is definitely a new legal requirement however I don’t think it’s enforced as yet so won’t be done everywhere

Travel all the time but been a few years since Spain. UK passport, travelling from London so didn't expect to need all this and have never been asked for it before.

That can ask for proof of where you’re staying, proof of a return flight being booked and proof that you have enough money to support yourself whilst there. I’ve been asked once and just showing them my return boarding pass on my phone, an email from where I was staying and credit/debit cards in my purse was plenty. I travel to Spain regularly and have only been asked once for anything other than my passport.

The responses on here are wrong. Look at the advice on the UK gov website. You do need proof of travel insurance and money to support yourself, that’s a post-Brexit requirement. They don’t usually ask British tourists for that information, online banking and an insurance email is enough.

We went to Mallorca last week and no-one was asked any of this at the airport - everyone just went through the electronic gates.

It is very unlikely you will be asked and unless you don't have travel insurance, any booked accommodation or any money/payment cards with you, you don't need to worry even if you are asked, which you almost certainly won't be.

Last year we toured Menorca in a camper van and the border guard conversationally asked me where we were staying and I sort of panicked and said 'in a camper van' and he didn't bat an eye lid or ask for any additional documentation.

The sites you are reading are making a mountain out of a molehill.

The responses aren’t wrong, they are our own experiences of recent travel to Spain. I’ve been there numerous times since Brexit and have never been asked for proof of return travel, proof of insurance, proof of where I’m staying or proof of funds. If I WERE asked I would have all these things in my phone (return boarding pass, insurance policy number, details of accommodation and be able to show bank balance on app/cash in euros). I have just never been asked for them. OP, if you have all these things available then you will be fine. Enjoy your trip! Edit: I went to Spain last Saturday and came back yesterday, so very recently.

We are in Majorca now. The hotel asked us to pay a tourist tax and we had to sign a form to say they can share our details with the police if necessary (this is a 5 star hotel so seems a little weird but obviously a thing)! They didn’t check anything else. All we needed to enter was passports.

I'm in Spain at the moment, arrived a week ago - haven't had to produce anything but my passport.

Flew into Malaga yesterday. Along with about 4 other plane loads arriving at the same time. Cursory glance at the passport and a quick stamp. They could not even ask one question to each traveller without causing huge delays

People are saying they weren’t asked but that’s not the relevant information- you can be asked for this information!

I’ve been asked for proof of funds in Spain and proof of return flight in Germany.

There is no need to rely on strangers on an online forum for this.

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/spain/entry-requirements

The key part is the phrase : At Spanish border control, you may need to show

May. When you’re flying into Malaga at peak holiday season and there are 500 people in the queue ahead of you, they do not start asking about insurance.

You do not need anything at the border apart from your passport.

Some anti-Brexit scaremongers (I'm anti-Brexit too, but FFS these people were gloomsters) managed to dig out that according to Spanish immigration law, in theory they can ask you for proof of accommodation, spending money, etc. But these are rules that are only ever applied to people coming from a country where people need a visa for Schengen. So for example if you want to come from India and stay with your brother who is a resident of Spain, as part of the application process you need a letter from your brother (witnessed at the local police station) saying you will stay with him, you need a copy of your bank statements, etc etc etc. The consulate in your home country reviews all that before issuing the visa. The people at the border by and large don't even know that that requirement exists, and they certainly have no protocols for you to pull up your online banking and satisfy them that you have X amount of money in your cash ISA.

There have been about 100 million British tourist entries to Spain since Brexit and not a single one has been asked for proof of resources or accommodation. How do I know this? Because the tabloid media wheel out the "Watch out, you need all this stuff" story every week, and yet they have never found anybody that it actually happened too, even though the headlines would be an absolute gift ("NOW Sharia-loving jackbooted EuSSR bureaucrats PUNISH hard-working Brit families for Brexit with LUDICROUS spending money rules").

On the other hand, about once a week we see a story of someone who got drunk, fell off their balcony, is now in hospital, and is running a GoFundMe because they travelled without insurance. So by all means get that, and take a GHIC, but if you are asked at the border for insurance or your bank balance or proof of accommodation, I will pay for your holiday myself.

Now, you do need to fill in some basic stuff for Airbnbs. But it's nothing that you don't already have to provide for hotels in many European countries. And the only fines that can be issued if the data is incomplete are for the owners, not you. This despite recent lurid headlines in the UK media saying "NOW Sharia-loving jackbooted Spainish bureaucrats PUNISH hard-working Brit families for Brexit with LUDICROUS registration rules — you have to provide your bank account details and there's a 30,000 Euro fine for not complying!!!!!!!!!1!"). All total, utter bollocks, designed to scare you for clicks.

I was in Spain 4 weeks ago. Only showed my passport and that was it. To be honest the agent at the border didn’t even look at it, she carried on a conversation with the guy next to her, stamped my passport and that was it.

When you go through the gates what happens re stamping your passport? I’m curious as we had to go through the line to go up to a window and get the passport stamped.

There is something coming in 2026, isn’t there?

Maybe if you look suspicious, they'll ask.

visited last summer. Just needed passport.