How to vote in Spain

You are eligible to vote in the European elections in Spain if you are:

1. at least 18 years old on election day;
2. a Spanish citizen residing in Spain or abroad (unless they choose to vote in the EU country where they live), or a citizen of other EU country residing in Spain.

Spanish or EU citizen voting in Spain
As a Spanish or EU citizen voting in Spain, you can cast your vote by post (upon request), or in person at the polling station that corresponds to you according to the electoral roll, which is based on your place of registration. You can check your registration and polling station details on the website of the National Statistics Institute.
Before the elections, the competent national authorities will draw up the census from the information provided by the town halls and consulates. Voters have a period of eight days to consult the census and submit claims for change of address, which must be justified, but only within the same electoral demarcation (which corresponds to a province or island).

Spanish citizen voting from abroad
Spanish citizen permanently living abroad
First of all, you must be registered at the consular register at the Spanish Embassy in your country of residence, which will automatically process your registration in the Census of Resident-Absent Voters Living Abroad. From that moment on, you can cast your vote by post or in person, by making use of the ballot boxes available in designated Spanish consulates or embassies or in the places that are enabled for this purpose, where you are registered (Article 75 of Organic Law 5/1985 of 19 June 1985) between eight and three days before election day.
In any case, if you wish to vote by mail, and without the need to request it in advance, you will be sent ex officio all the documentation necessary to vote by mail, to the registration address of each person of Spanish nationality registered in the census of resident voters.

Spanish citizen temporarily living abroad
According to Royal Decree 1621/2007, in order to vote, Spanish citizens who are abroad temporarily must register as non residents at the consulate corresponding to their temporary residence abroad. You must also make a request to the consulate no later than the 25th day after the elections have been called, in order to receive the voting documents at your address abroad. You must send your vote by registered post to the polling station in Spain no later than the third day prior to the election.

Spanish citizen voting in Spain
If you have the Spanish nationality and reside in Spain, you do not have to take any steps: the authorities register you on the electoral roll automatically. However, if you have recently changed your address, we recommend that you check your details at the National Statistics Institute.
You can also consult the list of the electoral roll at the town hall or consulate of your place of residence and, if necessary, file a complaint to correct your details within eight days from the sixth day after the election is called.

EU citizen residing in Spain
To register you will have to fill in a form and present the documentation requested by the town hall where you live. You will also have to disclose your last electoral constituency to prevent double voting and express your wish to vote in Spain.
There are several options to do so.
At any time online at the website of the National Statistics Institute (INE) (available in Spanish) or at your local town hall by filling in the formal declaration form (DFA model) (in Spanish) available at all town halls and which can also be downloaded from the INE website.
In addition, in the months prior to the elections, the Electoral Census Office (OCE) sends a notification to EU citizens who are registered and have not previously expressed their intention to exercise their right to vote. Please note: the OCE only sends the letter once: if you do not respond, it will assume that you do not intend to vote in Spain.
European citizens in Spain who wish to vote in Spain must express their consent before 30 January, 2024, unless they have done so previously.

Spanish citizen voting from abroad
Spanish residents in other countries must be entered on the consular register in good time for inclusion in the current electoral register (Census of Resident-Absent Voters Living Abroad): two or three months before elections are called.
Residents who are abroad temporarily must register as non-residents at the consulate competent for the place where they are staying. When elections are called, they must apply to vote at the consulate no later than 25 days after the announcement of the election.