Taking your pet to Spain: chip, jab, passport — and 21 days of patience
Within the EU your dog or cat simply travels with you, without quarantine. There are only three requirements, and one of them has a waiting period that can shift your departure date if you start too late. And in Spain a new law awaits dog owners, with a course and an insurance.
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Written and checked by Auke on , against the sources at the bottom. Is something no longer right? Report it below and I'll fix it.
Your dog or cat simply travels with you to Spain. Within the EU there's no quarantine, no permit and no months-long process. There are three requirements, and the order is fixed:
- a microchip;
- a rabies vaccination;
- an EU pet passport.
Whoever has ever read what taking a pet to Australia requires can breathe a sigh of relief with Spain. There it means at least six months, an import permit and mandatory quarantine.
The three requirements, in the mandatory order
First the chip. Your animal has to be chipped with a microchip that meets the EU standard. With Dutch dogs that's almost always already the case, with cats far from always. The chip has to be in before the rabies vaccination is given, otherwise that vaccination doesn't count for the travel rules.
Then the rabies vaccination. Valid and given after the chip, by an authorised vet. If your animal's vaccinations have been kept up neatly for years, this is a matter of checking the date instead of arranging something new. Mind the continuity: a booster given after the previous jab has expired counts as a first vaccination, with the waiting period below.
And the EU pet passport. You get that from your own vet: a blue booklet with the chip code, the vaccinations and your details. It is only issued to owners who live in the EU, and it stays valid for life as long as the rabies vaccination is repeated on time. So you arrange it once, for all future travel within the EU.
| Requirement | Rule | Waiting period or limit |
|---|---|---|
| Microchip | placed before the rabies vaccination | none |
| Rabies vaccination | by an authorised vet, after the chip | first jab only from 12 weeks; then wait at least 21 days |
| EU pet passport | from a vet authorised to issue it | valid for life as long as the vaccination continues |
| Number of animals | dogs, cats and ferrets together | at most five, unless for a competition or exhibition and older than six months |
| Tapeworm treatment | only for Finland, Ireland, Malta, Norway and Northern Ireland | not for Spain |
After a first rabies vaccination a waiting period of 21 days applies before your animal may cross the border. If your cat has never been vaccinated against rabies (not mandatory in the Netherlands, so it happens often), that jab plus three weeks therefore determines your earliest possible departure. Whoever discovers this in the last week postpones their own move. Start on it at least a month in advance.
For puppies and kittens there's a lower limit too: vaccination is only possible from twelve weeks. So a very young animal simply can't come yet.
And the EU rules apply to private journeys. If the animal is to change owner or be sold, the stricter trade rules apply.
The journey itself: the back seat wins
This is one of the few emigrations where the pet can simply go in the car. Two days of driving with stops is calmer for most dogs than an aircraft hold, and even for cats with a good carrier. You keep control over breaks, water and temperature yourself.
If you fly anyway: every airline has its own rules for animals in the cabin or the hold. In the Spanish summer some refuse the hold because of the heat. Book the animal at the same time as your own seat, not afterwards.
Include the practical side in your moving plan too: the passport travels with the owner, not with the household contents in the removal van.
And in Spain: the new animal welfare act
There's no obligation to register on arrival as with people. But since 2023 Spain has a national animal welfare act (Ley 7/2023) that asks two things of dog owners:
- A course on keeping dogs. Whoever wants to keep a dog must have completed it. The course is free and valid indefinitely, and its content is set by regulation.
- A civil liability insurance for damage to third parties. The owner must take it out and keep it throughout the dog's life, and it also covers the people responsible for the animal. The minimum amount is likewise set by regulation.
For dogs assessed as manejo especial (dogs that need special handling) requirements for fencing the premises apply on top.
Besides that the regional rules remain, for dog registration and for certain breeds. So arrange two things early:
- a Spanish vet, for the booster vaccinations that keep the passport valid, and who knows what the region requires;
- the insurance.
Ask at your first visit what applies in your region. That vet knows the rules better than any website.
The costs? A fraction of the Australian route: chip, jab and passport at the vet, and soon an insurance premium. The cost indication on the Spain page includes a modest item for it, per animal.
In Vertrekklaar this is phase 3 of 5 of the journey, step 3.3: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Spain or go straight to step 3.3 in the open plan.
What is due when?
Enter your departure date and see day by day what your dog or cat needs for Spain, from microchip to certificate.
What this rests on
The facts in this article come from these official pages. Rules change. When in doubt, go by the source, not this article.
- Your Europe — travelling with your pet within the EU (chip, rabies, 12 weeks, 21 days, five animals) — europa.eu
- BOE — Ley 7/2023 on animal welfare, article 30 (course and liability insurance for dogs) — boe.es
- EUR-Lex — Regulation (EU) 576/2013, article 5 (at most five animals) and Annex III (vaccination from 12 weeks, immunity after 21 days) — eur-lex.europa.eu
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