How and where can I apply for asylum in Spain?
Anyone who wishes to apply for asylum in Spain, including minors under the age of 18, may do so in the following places, depending on where they are at the time:
- If you are at a border checkpoint (whether it is a port, airport or land border in Ceuta or Melilla), notify the National Police or Civil Guard that you want to seek asylum, refuge or international protection in Spain.
- If you are already in Spanish territory you must go in person to one of the Immigration Offices or Police Stations authorised to accept applications for asylum and refuge to make an appointment.
- If you are in an Immigration Detention Facility (CIE) and wish to apply for asylum, you must notify the facility’s management.
- You may also request international protection if you are in a penitentiary facility by notifying the facility’s management.
- Diplomatic missions and Spanish consular offices abroad: Although it is possible, according to the law, to seek asylum in Spanish diplomatic missions and consular offices abroad, at the present time applications can only be processed on an exceptional basis by this means because the procedure to be followed has not yet been defined in the regulations of the law on asylum.
You may apply for international protection at any time after your entry in Spain. However, we recommend that you do so as soon as possible, preferably within the first month after your arrival, even though any application submitted at a later time will also be accepted.
You can also request asylum if the situation that prevents you from returning to your country occurred while you were in Spain or in any other foreign country, even if you have been abroad for a long time.
Find more information about where to formalize your asylum application in this video.
