Expat question: Is the TIE valid ID for albergues

[Keith H]

Hello folks,

A rather specific question here that I thought about following some passport carrying convos on here. In Spain as a foreigner here on a visa you have to get a Tarjeta de Extranjeros or TIE. It’s an official and mandatory Spanish ID card. As it is official ID in the country would it be acceptable for me to only bring that along instead of having to bring my passport. My initial feeling is yes but this is Spain .

 

[ivar]

For travel in Spain you mean? I would think so... if you have a Spanish driver license, Would bring that too.. just in case.

 

[Keith H]

For travel in Spain you mean? I would think so... if you have a Spanish driver license, Would bring that too.. just in case.

Hi Ivar,

For on the Camino specifically. I was just thinking that if I could avoid carrying my passport that would be great.

 

[ivar]

If you have the TIE with the picture on it, you should be fine... I have the one without the picture and I have to bring my passport with it. (This is why I try to use the drivers license as ID in Spain, although it is not really valid).

 

[Keith H]

If you have the TIE with the picture on it, you should be fine... I have the one without the picture and I have to bring my passport with it. (This is why I try to use the drivers license as ID in Spain, although it is not really valid).

Perfect! Mine has my photo on it Thanks Ivar

 

[jungleboy]

I’ve seen xunta albergues in Galicia require either DNI or passport. I would bring your passport just in case.

 

[Kathor1]

@Keith H, if the hospitalero/a is familiar with the law of the land about the libro-registro for guests and the data that they have to transmit to the Guardia Civil then yes your TIE is all you need to show. Because:

(1) Se admiten:

– Para españoles: DNI, pasaporte o permiso de conducir.​

– Para extranjeros: Pasaporte, carta o documento de identidad (para ciudadanos de la Unión Europea, Andorra, Islandia, Suiza, Noruega, Malta, Mónaco y San Marino). Permiso de residencia español en vigor para los extranjeros residentes en España.​

 

[WestKirsty]

I've used my TIE before in albergues and didn't have a problem. It looks very similar to the DNI card but the number is in a different place so I have had to point the number out to a hospitalero or two, but it was accepted.

I haven't stayed in too many albergues using it (not much walking since I got it!) so my sample size is small but those experiences might be an indication of the state of things.

Buen camino!

 

[Keith H]

@Keith H, if the hospitalero/a is familiar with the law of the land about the libro-registro for guests and the data that they have to transmit to the Guardia Civil then yes your TIE is all you need to show. Because:

(1) Se admiten:

– Para españoles: DNI, pasaporte o permiso de conducir.​

– Para extranjeros: Pasaporte, carta o documento de identidad (para ciudadanos de la Unión Europea, Andorra, Islandia, Suiza, Noruega, Malta, Mónaco y San Marino). Permiso de residencia español en vigor para los extranjeros residentes en España.​

I'm always amazed at your ability to find the most detailed information on rather obscure subjects! Thanks!

 

[Keith H]

I've used my TIE before in albergues and didn't have a problem. It looks very similar to the DNI card but the number is in a different place so I have had to point the number out to a hospitalero or two, but it was accepted.

I haven't stayed in too many albergues using it (not much walking since I got it!) so my sample size is small but those experiences might be an indication of the state of things.

Buen camino!

Thanks WestKirsty! Autocorrect wanted to change it to WewtKirsty . It’s good to hear from someone who has used it a bit.

 

[gollygolly]

Hello folks,

A rather specific question here that I thought about following some passport carrying convos on here. In Spain as a foreigner here on a visa you have to get a Tarjeta de Extranjeros or TIE. It’s an official and mandatory Spanish ID card. As it is official ID in the country would it be acceptable for me to only bring that along instead of having to bring my passport. My initial feeling is yes but this is Spain .

Suggest that while the TIE will almost certainly be sufficient for you staying at all albergues on your route, there is no harm in also taking your passport. Circumstances can change, as I found for myself, having to make a break from the Camino and head to the UK rapidísimo. The TIE alone would not have allowed me to get onto the flight.

Bon Camino

 

[Kathor1]

The TIE alone would not have allowed me to get onto the flight.

The TIE - the Spanish version of an ID card for foreign residents in a format that is common to many if not all EU countries - is not a travel document, i.e. it cannot be used for crossing borders where a valid travel document is required. But it is a valid ID document within the country where it has been issued and it is used as such, and meant to be used as such.

There is often confusion because many people are not aware of the different functions of such cards, in particular because (in EU countries) the modern ID cards for nationals of that county and the ID cards for foreign residents in that country look very much alike.

 

[Kathor1]

I'm always amazed at your ability to find the most detailed information on rather obscure subjects! Thanks!

Thank you for the compliment. In this case it was easy and for me not an obscure subject at all! Two years of experience of looking up Spanish law (mostly Covid-19 related) to check the exact wording before I give a reply and several decades of experience of learning and explaining to friends and family members what the difference is between the functions and usability of their national ID cards issued by their country of nationality and their ID cards as foreign residents issued by their county of residence. Especially nowadays - when next to everyone has machine readable chip equipped cards in credit card format - these two kinds of cards look very similar to each other.

I wonder what it is more likely: that a hospitalero/a would (wrongly) not accept your TIE card for the purposes of the mandatory traveller registration or that they even notice that it has not the same functions as the ID cards of Spanish nationals. My money is on the latter.

 

[JabbaPapa]

The TIE - the Spanish version of an ID card for foreign residents in a format that is common to many if not all EU countries - is not a travel document, i.e. it cannot be used for crossing borders where a valid travel document is required. But it is a valid ID document within the country where it has been issued and it is used as such, and meant to be used as such.

Close - - it is not a travel document (with some unusual exceptions such as having an Italian one to visit Vatican City), but it certainly is an ID document, and not just in the country where it has been issued ("identity cards" are only one type of "ID document"). So you can use an EU residency card to identify yourself within the EU, which would not obviate the need to also be in possession of a valid travel document (passport or identity card as the case may be, possibly a visa) if you have travelled from outside the country that you are visiting.

And so I have both my passport and my French residency card, though typically what I show is the latter, which is fine for simple ID purposes in most cases (not border control usually, though I think it's often tolerated for things like quick cross border shopping runs).

Which a pilgrim resident in Spain and walking only in Spain would not need, but his TIE residency card would suffice during the walk. But if he were starting in SJPP, then passport or identity card too.

 

[Robi Diaz De Vivar]

Hello folks,

A rather specific question here that I thought about following some passport carrying convos on here. In Spain as a foreigner here on a visa you have to get a Tarjeta de Extranjeros or TIE. It’s an official and mandatory Spanish ID card. As it is official ID in the country would it be acceptable for me to only bring that along instead of having to bring my passport. My initial feeling is yes but this is Spain .

Definitely. I am a Scot with Spanish resendicia. I did a stretch of the Mozarabe this year and all that I needed was my TIE card.

 

[Keith H]

Thanks for all the answers folks!

 

[lindam]

Hello folks,

A rather specific question here that I thought about following some passport carrying convos on here. In Spain as a foreigner here on a visa you have to get a Tarjeta de Extranjeros or TIE. It’s an official and mandatory Spanish ID card. As it is official ID in the country would it be acceptable for me to only bring that along instead of having to bring my passport. My initial feeling is yes but this is Spain .

I have used a Spanish TIE with no problems in albergues. However, it was always necessary for me to carry a passport as well in case I chose to fly home (within Spain) at the end of a Camino.

 

[Keith H]

I have used a Spanish TIE with no problems in albergues. However, it was always necessary for me to carry a passport as well in case I chose to fly home (within Spain) at the end of a Camino.

Good answer. Thank you

 

[VNwalking]

Close - - it is not a travel document

Within Spain, for Spanish residents the actual law (INT/1922/2003 as amended last year) says a 'travel document' is unnecessary - and clearly explains which group of people can use which kind of identification, as @Kathar1na quoted:

(1) Se admiten:

– Para españoles: DNI, pasaporte o permiso de conducir.
– Para extranjeros: Pasaporte, carta o documento de identidad (para ciudadanos de la Unión Europea, Andorra, Islandia, Suiza, Noruega, Malta, Mónaco y San Marino). Permiso de residencia español en vigor para los extranjeros residentes en España.

(The bold part meaning "Valid Spanish residence permit for foreigners residing in Spain.")

As you say, @JabbaPapa:

Which a pilgrim resident in Spain and walking only in Spain would not need, but his TIE residency card would suffice during the walk.

And:

But if he were starting in SJPP, then passport or identity card too.

Not necessarily - if a Spanish resident got an early ride to SJPP without staying there or anywhere before the border, it would be no problem. It's not like there is a border control up on the hill between SJPP and Roncesvalles!

 

[JabbaPapa]

Not necessarily - if a Spanish resident got an early ride to SJPP without staying there or anywhere before the border, it would be no problem. It's not like there is a border control up on the hill between SJPP and Roncesvalles!

One does need to be a little more careful in such locations as Hendaye, SJPP, Cerbère, Menton, as they are all entry points for illegal immigrants into France from Spain or Italy, and the French do conduct spot checks in and near those locations. Not much problem travelling out of France, but a random check coming in to the country is possible in many circumstances. And more likely BTW for non-whites.

Better safe than sorry when travelling to France on an illegal immigration route (I live on one !!), bring your travel document.

 

[WGroleau]

Hello folks,

A rather specific question here that I thought about following some passport carrying convos on here. In Spain as a foreigner here on a visa you have to get a Tarjeta de Extranjeros or TIE. It’s an official and mandatory Spanish ID card. As it is official ID in the country would it be acceptable for me to only bring that along instead of having to bring my passport. My initial feeling is yes but this is Spain .

The law requires anyone "hosting" (even AirBNB) to enter every guest into a database maintained by Guardía Civil. The entry form allows four methods of ID: passport, DNI, NIE, and driver's license.

Your TIE is evidence you are in the country legally, and your NIE is printed on it. SO, it should be adequate. But as you apparently already know, in Spain sometimes what is acceptable is what the official thinks the law should be.

As hospitalero, I have occasionally put in someone's NIE and it was not rejected. Once, a Spanish citizen presented a carnet with only one appellido. The DB rejected the entry. I contacted the Guardía and the person insisted that I was lying—"a Spanish citizen always has two surnames; it's the law." (That law had been changed decades before!)

(This is from two-year-old memory—I tried to verify on the DB today, but it won't load.)

 

[WGroleau]

If you have the TIE with the picture on it, you should be fine... I have the one without the picture and I have to bring my passport with it. (This is why I try to use the drivers license as ID in Spain, although it is not really valid).

For entry into the Guardía Civil database, a driver's license should work. I tried to verify on the DB today, but the entry form won't load.

 

[Kathor1]

The law requires anyone "hosting" (even AirBNB) to enter every guest into a database maintained by Guardía Civil. The entry form allows four methods of ID: passport, DNI, NIE, and driver's license.

@WGroleau, you presumably meant TIE and not NIE. T for tarjeta, N for número. Of course, the NIE is printed on the TIE.

There are actually six categories for valid identification documents for the Registro de Viajeros, with these one-letter codes:

• D para DNI,
• P para el pasaporte,
• C para permiso de conducir,
• I para la carta o documento de identidad,
• N para permiso de residencia español,
• X para permiso de residencia de otro Estado Miembro de la Unión Europea.

The 'X' category may be mildly interesting for some readers as it confirms that not only Spanish residence permits are valid identification documents for the purposes of this register but also the residence permits issued by the other EU member states to their foreign residents. As to who may present what - see earlier in this thread.

As you have apparently access to the online registration form, it would be interesting to see what the drop-down menus allow, for example if a hospitalero can enter the driving licence number only when the nationality is Spanish or whether he can enter a driving licence for any nationality (but is supposed to know what's what, i.e. what he is actually doing ).

PS: See Orden INT/1922/2003 or the FAQ on hospederias.guardiacivil.es

 

[Keith H]

The law requires anyone "hosting" (even AirBNB) to enter every guest into a database maintained by Guardía Civil. The entry form allows four methods of ID: passport, DNI, NIE, and driver's license.

Your TIE is evidence you are in the country legally, and your NIE is printed on it. SO, it should be adequate. But as you apparently already know, in Spain sometimes what is acceptable is what the official thinks the law should be.

As hospitalero, I have occasionally put in someone's NIE and it was not rejected. Once, a Spanish citizen presented a carnet with only one appellido. The DB rejected the entry. I contacted the Guardía and the person insisted that I was lying—"a Spanish citizen always has two surnames; it's the law." (That law had been changed decades before!)

(This is from two-year-old memory—I tried to verify on the DB today, but it won't load.)

What a story!

 

[Kathor1]

what the drop-down menus allow, for example if a hospitalero can enter the driving licence number only when the nationality is Spanish or whether he can enter a driving licence for any nationality

The Guardia Civil’s user manual for their Hospederias web app says:

Tipo Documento: Lista desplegable para seleccionar el tipo de documento que se va a grabar: Documento Nacional de Identidad, Pasaporte, Permiso de conducir, Permiso Residencia Español, etc. Este será un campo obligatorio y es diferente para españoles y extranjeros.​

So, for foreign nationals, driving licence as valid identification document not possible after all, only for Spanish nationals? This would not surprise me - that the Guardia Civil Hospederias web form reflects what Spanish law stipulates.

 

[Keith H]

This turned into a bit of a rabbit hole

 

[Kathor1]

This turned into a bit of a rabbit hole

Of course. Now that your original question has been answered - I count three foreign residents in Spain who have confirmed that they used their TIE without problems to check into albergues - the flood gates are open for any comment that can be regarded as “related” to the question. This is a time-honoured forum tradition.

 

[WGroleau]

@WGroleau, you presumably meant TIE and not NIE. T for tarjeta, N for número. Of course, the NIE is printed on the TIE.

There are actually six categories for valid identification documents for the Registro de Viajeros, with these one-letter codes:

• D para DNI,
• P para el pasaporte,
• C para permiso de conducir,
• I para la carta o documento de identidad,
• N para permiso de residencia español,
• X para permiso de residencia de otro Estado Miembro de la Unión Europea.

The last time I did it, there were only the first four. I did mean what I typed. The TIE can be presented to the hospitalero, but he/she has to type in the NIE (unless the Guardía now offers a scanner). We used "I" for what "X" seems to be now. I never had someone present a TIE but "I" should have worked for that. And I did use "C" on occasion, but never with a non-Spanish DL. And I checked in myself with my NIE from memory (I never had a TIE).