Getting married in Spain as a foreigner

By the AbogadoAI editorial team · Updated 18 July 2026 · 12 min read

Spain is one of the most beautiful countries in the world to tie the knot, offering stunning landscapes, rich culture, and warm weather. However, if you are a foreign resident or an expat, navigating the Spanish legal system to get married can feel like embarking on a bureaucratic odyssey. From understanding the difference between civil partnerships and marriages to gathering the correct international paperwork, the process requires careful planning and strict adherence to Spanish Civil Code regulations. This comprehensive guide will walk you through everything you need to know about getting married in Spain as a foreigner, ensuring your path to the altar is as smooth and stress-free as possible.

The Legal Framework: Spanish Marriage Law

To get married in Spain, you must understand the legal framework that governs matrimonial unions. The primary source of law is the Spanish Civil Code (Código Civil), specifically Title IV, which regulates marriage.

Under Article 44 of the Spanish Civil Code, marriage has the same requirements and effects regardless of whether the spouses are of the same or different sexes. Spain has permitted same-sex marriage since 2005, following the landmark reform of Law 13/2005 (often associated with the broader family law reforms of Law 15/2005, which also streamlined divorce processes).

For foreigners, Article 50 of the Civil Code is highly relevant. It establishes that foreigners may marry in Spain according to the forms prescribed for Spaniards, or by complying with the laws of their own country of nationality. However, if the marriage takes place in Spain, the administrative processing of the marriage file (expediente matrimonial) must still be conducted before Spanish authorities to verify that both parties have the legal capacity to marry and that the consent is genuine.

Civil Marriage vs. Religious Marriage

In Spain, you can choose between two legally binding types of marriage:

*Civil Marriage (Matrimonio Civil):* This is conducted by a judge, mayor, municipal councillor, or a notary public. It is entirely secular and legally binding once registered.
*Religious Marriage (Matrimonio Religioso): Spain recognizes the legal validity of marriages celebrated under certain religious faiths that have established agreements with the Spanish state. These include the Roman Catholic Church, Protestant/Evangelical Churches, the Jewish faith, and the Islamic faith. If you choose a religious ceremony, you must still register the marriage with the Spanish Civil Registry (Registro Civil*) to obtain legal recognition.

Key Requirements for Foreigners

Before you begin booking venues, you must ensure you meet the fundamental legal criteria set by Spanish law:

Age: You must be over 18 years old (or an emancipated minor over 16 years old).
Marital Status: You must be single, legally divorced, or widowed. Spain does not recognize polygamy or bigamy.
Consent: Both parties must enter the marriage freely. Spanish authorities are highly vigilant against "marriages of convenience" (matrimonios de conveniencia), which are entered into solely to obtain residency rights.
Residency: At least one of the future spouses must be registered as a resident in Spain (empadronado) at the municipality where the application is submitted. If neither of you is a resident in Spain, getting civilly married here is extremely difficult, and most non-resident foreigners opt for a symbolic ceremony in Spain after getting legally married in their home country.

Step-by-Step Guide to the Bureaucratic Process

The administrative process to get married in Spain is known as opening the expediente matrimonial. This process verifies that there are no legal impediments to your union.

Here is the step-by-step roadmap to navigate this procedure:

Step 1: Register Your Address (Empadronamiento)

At least one of you must be registered on the municipal census (padrón) at your local town hall (ayuntamiento).

Office involved: The local Town Hall (Ayuntamiento).
Action: Present your rental contract or property deeds, passport, and fill out the registration form. You will receive a certificate of registration (volante de empadronamiento), which is valid for 3 months from the date of issue.

Step 2: Gather the Required Documents

This is the most time-consuming step. All foreign documents must be officially translated into Spanish by a sworn translator (traductor jurado) and legalized. If your home country is a signatory to the Hague Convention, your documents must carry the Apostille stamp. If not, they must be legalized through diplomatic channels (embassies and ministries of foreign affairs).

You will need to gather:

Valid Passports: Original and photocopies of both parties.
*Foreigner Identity Number (NIE - Número de Identidad de Extranjero):* If applicable.
*Full Birth Certificates (Certificado de Nacimiento): Legalized/Apostilled and translated, issued within the last 3 to 6 months* (depending on the registry).
*Certificate of No Impediment to Marriage (Certificado de Capacidad Matrimonial or Certificado de Soltería):* This document proves you are legally free to marry. You can obtain this from your home country’s consulate or embassy in Spain, or from your country of origin.
*Certificate of Residence (Certificado de Residencia): Proving your residence for the last 2 years. For the time spent in Spain, the empadronamiento* suffices. For time spent abroad, you must obtain a certificate from your previous country's authorities or consulate.
Divorce or Death Certificates: If either party was previously married, you must provide the previous marriage certificate along with the divorce decree (sentencia de divorcio) or the death certificate of the deceased spouse, properly legalized and translated.

Step 3: Open the Marriage File (Expediente Matrimonial)

Once you have all your documents, you must present them to initiate the formal file.

Office involved: Traditionally, this was done exclusively at the local Civil Registry (Registro Civil). However, thanks to recent legal reforms, you can now also initiate this process through a Notary Public (Notario), which is significantly faster, though it incurs notary fees.
Action: Submit your documents and fill out the application forms.

Step 4: The Interview (Audiencia Reservada)

To prevent marriages of convenience, the Civil Registry or the Notary will conduct a private, separate interview with both of you.

Action: You will be asked personal questions about your relationship (e.g., your partner's habits, family members, how you met, and your shared life). If one of you does not speak Spanish, you must bring an official translator.

Step 5: Authorization and Celebration

Once the authority approves the file, they will issue a resolution authorizing the marriage. You then have 180 days (approx. 6 months) to celebrate the wedding.

Where: You can choose to be married at the Civil Registry, the Town Hall by the Mayor or a councillor, or before a Notary Public.
Witnesses: You must bring at least two adult witnesses who know you well to sign the marriage certificate.

Step 6: Registration and the Family Book (Libro de Familia)

Immediately after the ceremony, the marriage must be registered.

Office involved: The Civil Registry.
Result: You will receive your official Spanish marriage certificate and the famous Libro de Familia (Family Book), which is essential for future administrative procedures in Spain, such as registering children or applying for residency for a non-EU spouse.

Timelines and Costs

The bureaucratic machinery in Spain moves at its own pace. It is vital to plan your wedding timeline with these realistic figures in mind:

Concrete Worked Examples

To help you visualize how this works in practice, let us look at two common scenarios for expats living in Spain.

Example 1: John (UK Citizen) and Maria (Spanish Citizen) in Madrid

John has been living in Madrid for 3 years and is registered (empadronado) in a flat where he pays €1,100 per month. He wants to marry Maria, a Spanish national.

The Process: Because John has lived in Spain for over 2 years, his empadronamiento history covers the residency proof requirement. John requests his birth certificate and a Certificate of No Impediment from the UK authorities. He gets them apostilled in the UK and hires a Spanish sworn translator for €120.
The Expediente: They decide to go through a Notary Public in Madrid to avoid the 5-month backlog at the Madrid Civil Registry. They pay the notary €450. The notary conducts the private interview, approves the file within 3 weeks, and marries them in the notary's office the following Friday.

Example 2: Sarah (US Citizen) and David (French Citizen) in Barcelona

Sarah and David are expats living in Barcelona. Sarah moved to Spain 6 months ago, while David has been here for 4 years.

The Challenge: Since Sarah has not lived in Spain for 2 years, she must prove her previous residency. She must obtain a certificate of residence from her previous US state authority, have it apostilled in the US, and translated. David simply requests his French birth certificate (which, under EU regulations, does not require an apostille if accompanied by a multilingual standard form) and his Barcelona empadronamiento history.
The Expediente: They submit their application to the Barcelona Civil Registry. Because they are both foreigners, the registry schedules an audiencia reservada to ensure it is not a sham marriage. They pass the interview, and 4 months later, they are cleared to marry. They choose to have their ceremony performed by a city councillor at the Barcelona Town Hall, paying a municipal fee of €120 for a Saturday slot.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Many couples face stressful delays or even cancellations due to avoidable errors. Keep these pitfalls in mind:

Expired Documents: Spanish administrative bodies generally require birth certificates and marital status certificates to be issued within 3 to 6 months of the date you submit your marriage application. Do not order your documents too early, or they will expire before your appointment.
Skipping the Sworn Translation: Standard translations are not accepted. Any document not in Spanish must be translated by a translator certified by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Traductor Jurado).
Ignoring the 2-Year Residency Proof: If you have not lived in Spain for the last 2 years, you must provide official proof of where you lived previously. Simply stating your previous address is not enough; you need a certificate from your previous local authority or consulate.
Forgetting the Apostille: A foreign public document without an Apostille stamp (or legalization stamp for non-Hague countries) is completely invalid in Spain. You cannot get this stamp in Spain; it must be done in the country where the document was issued.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Can I get married in Spain on a tourist visa?

Technically, yes, you can marry while on a tourist visa or during your 90-day visa-free stay, as Spanish law does not require legal residency to marry. However, because the administrative process (expediente matrimonial) usually takes several months, your tourist stay may expire before the paperwork is approved. Furthermore, you must still meet the requirement of at least one partner being registered (empadronado) in Spain, which usually requires a rental contract or homeownership.

Does marrying a Spanish citizen give me automatic citizenship?

No. Marrying a Spanish citizen does not grant automatic citizenship. However, it grants you the right to apply for a residency card as a family member of an EU citizen (Tarjeta de Familiar de Comunitario), which allows you to live and work in Spain. Once you have been legally married and resident in Spain for 1 year, you can apply for Spanish citizenship by residency, which is a significant reduction from the standard 10-year requirement.

What is a "Marriage of Convenience" interview like?

The interview is designed to verify that your relationship is genuine. The official will separate you and ask questions such as: "What side of the bed does your partner sleep on?", "What did you do for your partner's last birthday?", "What are the names of your partner's parents?", or "What is your partner's job?". If your answers do not match or if you cannot communicate due to a language barrier without a translator, the registry may deny the marriage authorization.

Can we choose our matrimonial property regime?

Yes. Under the Spanish Civil Code, you can choose your matrimonial property regime by signing a deed called capitulaciones matrimoniales before a notary. In Spain, the default regime depends on where you marry. In most of Spain (under common civil law), the default is the community property regime (sociedad de gananciales). However, in regions like Catalonia and the Balearic Islands, the default is the separation of property regime (separación de bienes). You can change this at any time before or after the wedding.

How do we register a marriage celebrated abroad in Spain?

If you are a Spanish resident or citizen and got married outside of Spain, you must register your marriage at the Spanish Civil Registry or the Spanish Consulate in the country where the wedding took place. You will need to present the foreign marriage certificate (legalized and translated) along with your birth certificates and proof of address.

In Summary

Legal basis: Marriages in Spain are governed by the Spanish Civil Code, ensuring equal rights for all couples, including same-sex couples since 2005.
Residency rule: At least one of the partners must be registered on the local census (empadronamiento) in Spain to initiate a civil marriage.
Paperwork is key: All foreign documents must be recent (issued within 3 to 6 months), legalized or carrying the Apostille stamp, and translated by a certified Spanish sworn translator.
Speeding up the process: Utilizing a Notary Public to process your marriage file can cut waiting times from several months to just a few weeks.
Post-wedding: Once married, you must register the union at the Civil Registry to receive your Libro de Familia and official marriage certificate.

General legal information, not personalised legal advice. For your specific situation, ask your question for free at AbogadoAI — answers grounded in Spanish law (BOE), in English.

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This is general information, not legal advice. Verify on the BOE or consult a lawyer for your specific case.