Spain Travel Requirements: What You Need to Do in 2025

Much to the surprise of some travelers, there isn't one universal set of requirements that applies to everybody when it comes to traveling to Spain.

Instead, the requirements to go to Spain depend on several different factors, which we're going to highlight in this article.

Whether you're from the US, UK, India, or somewhere else, this guide should answer some of the questions you have about what you'll need to do in order to travel to Spain.

The most recent Spain travel requirements

Which requirements you need to fulfill depend mostly on your nationality.

Some travelers need a visa to go to Spain, while others only need a passport (now anyway, this is changing, and soon).

Some travelers need a visa

The United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada have something in common. They all have visa agreements with the Schengen area.

Spain is a member of a European group of countries called the Schengen area. This "area" isn't a geographical area; it's a group of countries that may or may not share physical borders.

Some countries have an agreement with all of the countries in the zone (there are 29 in total). This agreement allows their citizens to travel anywhere in the area without a visa, provided they don't stay longer than 90 days.

The US, UK, and Canada aren't the only ones with an agreement like this. In fact, dozens of countries have agreements for visa-free travel to Spain, such as Mexico, Japan, Australia, South Korea, and many others.

If you're a citizen of a country with a visa agreement with the area, you do not need a visa to go to Spain (for up to 90 days). For travelers who want to spend more than 90 days, you'll need to apply for the appropriate long stay visa.

On the other hand, many countries do not have visa waiver agreements with the Schengen area.

Several countries, such as India, China, South Africa, Pakistan, and others, are not visa-exempt. This means that citizens of these countries have to have a visa to travel to Spain, whether they want to spend 2 days, 20, or 200.

If you're a citizen of a country that does not have a visa waiver agreement with the area, you will need to apply for a Schengen visa for your travels to Spain.

You can learn all about that process here.

Note: If you are a citizen of an EU/EEA/Schengen country, you do not need a visa to travel to Spain.

Pre-travel authorization is in the works

While citizens of visa-exempt countries don't need visas for short trips to Spain, they will need to get pre-travel authorization before heading there from 2026 on.

If you haven't heard of this before, it's because it's a brand-new European travel requirement that is expected to launch at the end of 2026.

This authorization is called ETIAS, and it is not a visa. Travelers will need to go online, answer a few questions, and pay a small fee (20 euros) per traveler between the ages of 18-70.

Once that's done, you should receive your approval via email within a couple of minutes (though it can take 14 days or longer).

Most travelers are approved right away.

Instead of a visa, you can think of it more like letting the Schengen area know that you're going to be traveling there.

That said, not everyone is approved. In some cases, travelers may not be, but that is quite rare.

Travelers who are not citizens of visa-exempt countries do not need to apply for ETIAS before traveling to Spain, as their valid Schengen visa already has all of the permissions necessary.

Also, EU/Schengen country citizens do not need to apply for ETIAS and are exempt.

Passport requirements

Whether you need a Schengen visa or ETIAS to go to Spain, you still need to hold a valid passport that meets specific requirements that have been determined by the entire Schengen area.

To go to Spain, your passport must:

• Have been issued in the past 10 years.
• Have an additional 3 months of remaining validity after you leave the Schengen area.

If your current passport does not meet those requirements, you will need to renew it before your travels.

Personal information requirements

Travelers who are booking accommodations or renting cars will need to hand over several personal details that will be forwarded to the Spanish government.

This is a relatively new requirement that started in 2024 in a nationwide effort to prevent criminal activity (such as trafficking and terrorism).

When renting a room/home or a car, you'll need to share 40-60+ pieces of information like your name, sex, place of birth, card information (if applicable), and more.

There isn't anything special that you have to do to prepare for this. It's the accommodation manager's/business's responsibility to collect this information from you.

The TLDR

If you're looking for a quick snapshot of what you need to do, look no further.

• Travelers who are citizens of visa-exempt countries (like the US, UK, Canada, and Australia) need a valid passport to travel to Spain.
• Travelers who are not citizens of visa-exempt countries (this includes citizens of China, India, Pakistan, and others) need a valid passport to travel to Spain.