Empadronamiento Castelló: your address on the city’s padró

01Why it comes early

The law asks every resident of Spain, whatever their passport, to be on the padrón of the town they actually live in. It is also a key piece for other papers. Police officers may ask for a padrón certificate when you apply for the green certificate, or at your toma de huellas, the fingerprint visit of a TIE card. The health centre goes by it, schools ask for it, and for some residence routes, such as arraigo, the time you have spent on the padrón counts.

Each municipality keeps its own padrón. This page is about the city of Castelló; in Vila-real, Almassora, Benicàssim or Borriana, you register with that town’s own Ajuntament.

02Six Tinences d’Alcaldia, one register

The Ajuntament handles the padrón at its Tinences d’Alcaldia, the district offices of the town hall. Its booking app offers the same padrón procedures at all six. From 1 June to 30 September, the sede electrònica (the town hall’s online office) gives summer hours of 9:00 to 13:00, with no afternoons.

• Centre: Plaça Major 1, ground floor, 12001; 964 355 203; Monday to Friday 9:00–14:00, and Thursday 16:30–19:00
• Grau (Districte Marítim): Passeig Buenavista 28; 964 283 840; Monday to Friday 9:00–14:00, and Tuesday 16:30–19:00
• Nord: Plaça del Primer Molí; 964 223 350; Monday to Friday 9:00–14:00
• Sud: Calle Ricardo Catalá, corner of Calle Joaquín Marqués, 12006; 964 252 736; Monday to Friday 9:00–14:00
• Est: Calle Columbretes 22, 12003 (some town hall pages give Avinguda Germans Bou 27); 964 261 267; Monday to Friday 9:00–14:00
• Oest, in Mas Blau: Plaça Lagunas de Ruidera (the Tinences page gives Plaça Miquel Soler Barberá); 964 244 765; Monday to Friday 9:00–14:00

03Walk in early, or book

According to the Ajuntament’s cita previa page, the offices see people without an appointment from Monday to Friday between 9:00 and 11:00, in limited numbers that can run out, and by appointment from 11:00 to 14:00. People over 65 need no appointment. You can book in the booking app linked from that page, or by phone on 010 (964 22 60 10 from a mobile or from outside the municipality).

One page disagrees: for a first registration (alta) at the Centre office on Plaça Major 1, the sede electrònica says an appointment is needed. If you register there for the first time, book one.

The person who registers goes in person; parents or guardians act for children. The town hall lists the registration as free, and it takes effect at once when the papers are complete.

04The papers: who you are and where you live

Bring originals. Documents are scanned at the counter, and passports or family books do not fit the scanner, so bring a clear photocopy of those too.

• EU and EEA citizens: your NIE, with your passport or national ID card
• Other foreign citizens: your passport or your residence card; a Spanish residence card in force comes before any other document
• Children under 16: their libro de familia, the family record book, or else a birth certificate
• Owners: the deed of the home; the town hall may also check its own property-tax records
• Tenants: the full rental contract in your name, and the latest rent receipt with the landlord, the tenant, the amount, the period and the address
• Or, as the sede electrònica also accepts: an electricity, gas or water contract in your name that shows the address
• Living in a home that is not yours: the signed authorisation of the owner, or of a person already registered there, with a copy of their ID (model “Autorització d’empadronament a una direcció”)
• A child registering with one parent: the other parent’s authorisation, the custody ruling, or a signed declaration on the town hall’s model

05Volant, certificat, and the renewal

Two papers prove your registration. The volant (volante in Spanish) is a simple statement of your address. The certificat (certificado) is the formal version, the one foreigners’ offices tend to want. With Cl@ve, the State’s digital login, or a digital certificate, you can ask for both online on sede.castello.es. Adults can also print a certificate without an appointment on the self-service tablets of the Centre office, Plaça Major 1.

Every two years, non-EU citizens without long-term residence have to renew their registration. The town hall sends a notice; without the renewal, the registration lapses. You renew in person at any of the offices, walking in between 9:00 and 11:00 or by appointment, with the renewal form, a valid passport or residence card, and proof that you still live there: the deed, the rental contract with the current month’s receipt, or a recent utility bill in your name.

EU citizens and holders of permanent residence do not renew. They confirm their registration instead, every five years when they are listed in the Registro Central de Extranjería (the State’s central register of foreigners), every two years if not.

06Help for newcomers: CSI-PANGEA

The Ajuntament runs an office for migrants, the Oficina de Atención a Personas Migradas y Convivencia Social e Interculturalidad (CSI-PANGEA), formerly called AMICS, at Ronda Mijares 14, 12001 Castelló de la Plana (964 244 722, amics@castello.es). It gives information on rights, duties and city services, and legal guidance on extranjería, mainly for people registered in Castelló.

The same office prepares two municipal reports that some immigration files ask for: the informe de inserción social (social integration report) for residence through arraigo, and the informe de adecuación de vivienda (housing report) for family reunification. It also offers a translation service, a welcome course on Valencian society and institutions, and Spanish and Valencian courses for migrants over 18 who are on the city’s padrón.