The following article is taken from Eye on Spain, www.eyeonspain.com

Padron Municipal - What you need to know

You may have heard of the Padron Municipal or Empadronamiento. If you haven’t and you are buying in Spain then you need to know about this. This article explains what it is, how it could benefit you and what you need to do in order to get it.

What is the Padron Municipal?

Every municipality in Spain holds a record of local residents; the Padron. This is held at the town hall (Ayuntamiento). The UK equivalent would be the electoral role. Anybody who owns a property in Spain should register, whether they live here permanently or not. Even if you are renting on a long term basis, you can apply to be registered. However, take note that you can only be registered on one Padron.

Who does it benefit?

The Municipality:
Although, it is not compulsory to be registered, it benefits both you and the municipality (borough) which, as a home owner, you are part of. It benefits the municipality because the local government receives funding depending on the number of people registered on the Padron. For this reason, it is imperative that you register to ensure the amount of funds necessary to run the municipality (borough) and maintain the infrastructure are received by the local government.

The funding is used for essential amenities such as policing, health centres, cleaning and maintenance. If you do not register, basic services will suffer as they do in many areas as so many foreign residents do not bother to register, manly because they are unaware that they should. It even affects staffing in the health clinics, post office and all the services that we take for granted.

You:
If you are planning to live here and have children, it gives you the right to enrol your children in the local schools (if places are limited preference will be given to registered children). It also allows you to take advantage of local leisure facilities with discounted fees at the municipal sports centre and exercise classes. It is often necessary when looking for work via the municipal ‘job centre’ equivalent. There are numerous advantages to having a certificate of empadronamiento (issued to you when you register).

Is it related to Residencia?

No, this is not a Residencia and it does not require you to have Residencia or be applying for it. It does not mean that you have to pay any extra taxes. Remember that you will have to pay municipal taxes anyway, if you are a home owner.

How do you register?

It’s easy. To register you need to go to your local town hall and produce your passport; NIE details and a copy of your escritura (title deeds, home owners only) or rental contract and you will be registered. If you say that you need proof that you are registered, they will issue you with a certificate, signed by the mayor. You can have an individual certificate (individual) or one that covers the whole family (familiar). If for any reason, they cannot issue a certificate on the same day, they can very easily give you a volante (a sort of temporary certificate which proves that you are registered).Once you are registered you will be described as empadronado. You will need to be familiar with this word as people may ask you about it. When you register you will be asked to sign a census form which gives you the right to vote in local council and European Union elections.

You will then be empadronado and an official member of the community.

 


Comments:

CommentDateUser
To re-new the Padron do I need to produce, NIE number, rental contract and utilities bills again or will my original padron be enough Mike Cox6/6/2007 11:31:00 AMcoxy942
We went to the La Cala Town Hall today to do this (to enable us to sign up with the Doctor) and was told that if we didn't have Residencia we needed to ensure we had the new NIE (green form). Fortunately I was issued with this from the Fuengirola office a year ago when I moved here but my girlfriend who moved here 6 months ago was issued a "normal" NIE and can't register now until she gets the newer green version!4/23/2008 11:11:00 AMshinyandy
Dear Susan, I am a spanish national living in the UK, I also own a property in Spain. I believe that this article is a bit misleading when you say that everybody who owns a house in Spain, should register whether they live in Spain permanently or not. If you register as 'empadronado' that means that your main residence is in Spain. This also means that you should also make your main tax return in Spain, and also means that you are not longer entitled to your 'non-resident' bank account where you can benefit from non paying tax in Spain if you have savings. This is what I was advised by the Spanish consulate in London when I tried to register in my local Council in Spain when i wanted to empadronar there. I was advised not to do so unless I was resident or considered 'resident' in Spain (183 days a year). I was advised that I could not have it both ways as the purpose of my 'empadronamiento' was to pay the discount rate of IBI. Yours sincerely, Vicente Ciorraga Cruz5/6/2008 2:54:00 PMTillo2
Our local Ayntamiento insist that for empadronamiento you must have at least 6 months - future- left to run on a rental contract. they wont accept Proof you HAVE been here more than 3 or 6 months, they insist on proof you WILL be here 6 months more. You need Empadrono to register with the police for the new Certificado de Registro, Officially you must obtain Certificado de Registro if you intend to be in spain more than 3 months, but you cannot get empadronamiento unless you have a signed 6 month rental. what if you rent for 5 months? the Ayuntamientos refusal to offer empadronamiento leaves you no chance to but be here illegally as without empadrono you cannot get your Certificado de Registro! Any suggestions?7/30/2008 12:40:00 PMrephlex00
(edit) leaves you no choice but to be here illegally (edit) as without empadrono you cannot get your Certificado de Registro! Any suggestions?7/30/2008 12:43:00 PMrephlex00
(edit) leaves you no choice but to be here illegally (edit) as without empadrono you cannot get your Certificado de Registro! Any suggestions?7/30/2008 1:16:00 PMrephlex00
Does Padron ever have to be renewed?8/11/2011 4:51:00 PMBrian
i want to know how i can apply my padron histery certificate by internat can you healp me please12/14/2011 12:12:00 PMmuhammad manzoor hussain
I went to register for Padron today and collect my certificate next week after paying 1€ for each of us. we are both already residents. I was told by someone I know who lives in Fuengirola (non residents) that they get 30% discount on IBI, car tax and basura but friends we know inland Alhaurin el Grande say they have never received a discount. Can anyone enlighten me?6/13/2012 9:59:00 PMJan
We wanted to send our kids to school this September after we had arrived in Spain. We had 11-month rental contract, NIE number, etc. However, we were DENIED empadronamiento because we were not having the so-called residencia certificate (same as white NIE paper but green one.) We had to go to a central police station where we had to queue for hours where they told us it is not possible to receive this certificate until our kids are enrolled in a Spanish school... No fun with three kids, believe me. This kind of game just took us 1,5 months when we had enough and moved to a different town where things were just normal again and the kids were enrolled in a school in 3 days.11/5/2013 10:38:03 AMlullaby
I have been told that to renew my padron will cost 270 euros is this correct. If i do it myself what does it entail11/28/2019 10:03:42 AMJohnenglish
I have been told that to renew my padron will cost 270 euros is this correct. If i do it myself what does it entail11/28/2019 10:03:43 AMJohnenglish