HOW TO ACCESS THE MAEC LEGALISATION SERVICE
VERY IMPORTANT NOTICE: THIS MINISTRY DOES NOT CHARGE ANY FEE OR PUBLIC PRICE FOR THE LEGALISATION OF PUBLIC DOCUMENTS.
1. IN PERSON:
The appointment system is temporarily disabled. We are open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis from 9.00 to 14.00 hours at our headquarters at Calle General Pardiñas, 55 (on the corner of Calle Padilla), from Monday to Friday (except for public holidays). You must show a valid identity document (DNI, NIE or Passport) at the security checkpoint.
The maximum number of personal and non-transferable documents to be legalised by this procedure is 10. Documents of family members up to the first degree may be legalised by attaching the family book. For all other documents, a power of attorney must be attached.
Up to 30 commercial documents submitted by companies may be legalised. Designees of companies must be duly accredited by means of a company authorisation.
Remember that you must come with a translation of the document into Spanish.
2. BY REGISTERED POST:
DO NOT FORGET THAT YOUR NAME MUST APPEAR ON YOUR HOME MAILBOX TO PREVENT THE POST OFFICE FROM RETURNING THE DISPATCH DUE TO AN UNKNOWN ADDRESSEE.
a. Purchase a Postal Express, PQ 48 hours, Premium or registered letter envelope.
b. The envelope should be addressed to Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores, Unión Europea y Cooperación; Subdirección General de Asuntos Jurídicos Consulares; Servicio de Legalizaciones; calle General Pardiñas, 55 (esquina con calle Padilla); código postal 28006 – Madrid. Tel: +34 91 379 16 63.
c. The envelope should include:
- A pre-paid return envelope for Postal Express, PQ 48 hours, Premium or registered letter, with the destination address and the name of the addressee.
- The document to be legalised and, where applicable, the corresponding translation into Spanish.
- A piece of paper with a contact phone number.
- In the case of dispatches from the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla and the Autonomous Region of the Canary Islands, a telephone number and a photocopy of the addressee's ID card must also be included. This requirement must be met for the submission of legalisations by registered post.
This Ministry cannot be held responsible for the loss of documents in the postal service or if these conditions are not met.
3. THROUGH AN ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCY:
If you wish to use the services of an administrative manager, visit the website of the Consejo General de Gestores Administrativos de España (General Council of Administrative Managers of Spain), where you will find a search engine: https://www.consejogestores.org/
In order to have access to the legalisation service, you must prove that you are a registered administrator in any of the Official Associations of Spain.
PLEASE NOTE: Before you come to legalise a document or send it by post, make sure of the following:
- If the public document is Spanish and is intended to be effective abroad, check that the Hague Apostille is not required instead of our legalisation. Here you can check the list of countries that have signed the Hague Convention
.
- When a Spanish document does not need to be apostilled, please check our website for details on the complete legalisation process.
If the document is not drawn up in Spanish, it must be accompanied by its translation into Spanish by any of the official sworn translators authorised by the MAEC or by the consulate or embassy of your country in Spain. You can check the list of sworn translators authorised by the MAEC here.