What is a certificado de empadronamiento?
A certificado de empadronamiento (or padron, in Spanish) is a certificate that confirms you are registered at your local town hall census. To register oneself is called empadronarse, in Spanish. This has many benefits, as listed below.
Much like a NIE number, a padron certificate is just one of those documents you will constantly need in Spain in your day-to-day life. You should apply for one as soon as possible to save yourself much aggravation.
What’s its purpose?
It’s basically used to keep tabs on demographic data, which enables the state to allocate more efficiently public resources to different cities and towns based on its registered population. The more citizens registered in a census, the more resources and money the town is allocated by the government.
For example, this translates into a larger number of ambulances, firemen, police officers, street cleaners, etc.
Who needs a Padrón?
It is normally used on applying for Spanish residency, either individually or collectively. But it is also required on a number of other cases, as collated below.
Padron uses
- Vote
- Apply/renew your residency permit
- Apply for a public health insurance card
- Entitles to free vaccination during the pandemic (Covid-19 jab)
- Get married
- Enrol children in local schools
- Buy/sell a car
- To claim benefits
- To attain subsidies
Documents required to enrol yourself
This changes from one town hall to the next, and also depending on your own personal circumstances, so I will not be listing any.
Empadronamiento in Spain: what is it and how do I get it?
When you first move to Spain, there is a checklist of things that you need to do to become a fully legal resident. One of these important things is getting your “empadronamiento”, sometimes shortened to “padrón”.
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