You Must carry id in Spain

You Must carry photo id in Spain even if your only here on holiday.

Here is a follow up to the video i did this morning about carrying id in Spain.

Below is the video i did this morning but heres what i have experienced over the 17 years here.

The specific law is Article 4 of Organic Law 4/2000 which states that foreign nationals in Spain are treated the same as spanish nationals.and must follow the same rules and carry identity documents issued by the country of citizenship. All Spanish citizens have and carry id cards.

When i first moved here i was told that i needed to carry my passport at all times as id. I thought this was a bit much especially when i wanted to go to the beach. Back then i had a Spanish neighbour who was a police man and he told me that British people dont have id cards so the passport is the only form of photo id with your details on and yes it was law here that even in holiday you must carry it.

He told me to get it photo copied and use that if i got stopped by police as he said it would be ok.

I did this and was stopped once and showed this and was told it should be the original but they let me move on, Later when i got nie and residencia that still was not enough as these documents dont have my photo n them. Even with residencia i had to carry my passport officially.

later i changed my driving licence to a Spanish one and that has my photo on it so i now use that all the time as id in shops offices and when stopped by the police and never a problem.

When opening a bank or doing anything official here like buying or selling or registering i still need to take my passport and my original residencia paper to show proof, the passport alone is not enough as i am now resident her and need both but only for official matters.

Moving to spain? Read this first important info page

You can now get the residencia in a small version. The original is A4 and you are not supposed to fold it ever, crazy i know. So a few years ago i got the small residencia card thats the same size as my driving licence and this comes in a plastic cover. i wanted to get it plasticised to keep it clean but thats not allowed i did try it but was told it must be able to come out of the plastic cover and when i was stopped once the police asked me to take it out of its cover.

Nobody wants to carry their passport around as it is a risk so heres a few things that you can do that are ok and i have used with the police so i know they work.

Get your passport copied and reduced in size and then put in plastic, its easy to carry and the police accept it. the worst case they may ask you to produce the original at the police station but i have never had that happen.
Take a photo of your passport on your mobile phone. most of use always carry our mobiles and then you could show that.
Get Your residencia paper made small or get the small version, it cost me 12 euros. and carry that or a copy of that as it fits in your wallet ok.

Heres the video i did this morning…

I was stopped for speeding once on the motorway doing 100 when it was signed at 80, i got pulled over and fined 300 euros that i had to pay at th epost office but you pay half that if you pay in 7 days. When i was stopped the police asked for id and i showed them my spanish driving licence and that was ok. On my driving licence is my nie number and they checked that on a hand held pc they had and all ok.

Guys the police here are very up to date with tec and can check everything about you in seconds and if you dont have papers they can arrest you till they have proof of who you are . dont take a chance just follow the rules and do it right.

If this has been of interest to you please leave me a quick comment thanks.

Below my 2 books out on Amazon and kindle..