I am a non-resident holiday home owner in Huelva province, have a NIE number and pay deemed rental income tax, IBI etc.

Some years ago I signed on my municipal Padron believing it was the right thing to do. Now I have received a letter from the Ayuntamiento asking for proof of residencia. I am not and have never been resident in Spain, usually spending no more than a total six or seven weeks there each year. So, should I be on the Padron?

Here is the text of my letter:

A traves de los ficheros de intercambio padronales remitidos por el Instituto Nacional de Estadistica, ha sido propuesta a este Ayuntamiento su Baja por inclusion indebida en el Padron Municipal de Habitantes, incidencia 141 (comprobacion de residencia de ciudadano no inscrito en el Registro Central de Estranjeros).

Al objeto de regularizar su situacion se le requiere para que en el plazo de 15 dias a partir de la recepcion de esta comunicacion, pase por este Ayuntamiento y aporte la documentacion de la que dispone al respecto y realizar su confirmacion de residencia.

Transcurrido el citado plazo sin atender este requerimiento, se procedera a iniciar los tramites para la baja de su inscripcion padronal en este municipio.

El teniente de alcalde.

Only full time residents are allow to sign on the Padron.

Many town halls in the past have encouraged all and sundry to sign on as that affects the amount of money they get from central government, however if you do not have your habitual residence in the town it is illegal to sign on.

Hi Fred,

Many thanks for your reply. We were indeed encouraged to sign on the Padron several years back. Do you think we may suffer any adverse consequences by signing in error back in 2008?

In Spain I currently have a 4 year old Fiat 500, LHD, full European spec but UK registered, taxed, MoT'd and insured. The car has been in Spain for two months and I am planning to re-register the vehicle on Spanish plates and then leave it there to use when we visit. I have been told I may need a Padron certificate to register the car in Spain. Do you know if that's true?

yo shouldn't need the padrón to register the car - you don't have to live here to have a car here!

you will need proof of address - & since you own property then the escritura will be accepted

you need to go the the ayuntamiento & tell them that you don't live here (any more ??) & get off the padrón

Is that for sure? I have always been asked for a current empadronamiento when changing cars. Can anybody confirm that proof of address will do?

It might well have changed in the meantime but I had to sign on the padron before I could change my car to Spanish plates. Maybe just in case this is effective where the OP has his property that it might be an idea to deal with the change over prior to removing himself from the padron.

Rosemary

Hang on we where told you had to be on padron for the car to be regiestered and also to pay the roadtax to the townhall???
As we on a campsite our adress wont be accepted as residence adress,
so what happen now, and we be moving campsite soon too .

Hola

Having done many change over of matriculation on cars, the Padron has always been necessary. The padron contains the date you first came to live in Spain which is used to determine whether you pay the first registration tax (commonly called import duty) or whether the car is included in goods and chattels.

I think you may have problems if you don´t have a padron, but in truth, you shouldn´t need one as several years ago the rules were changed (the EU asked if I remember right) to allow non residents who owned a house here, to be able to own a car here.

Davexf

I was under the impression that EU rules stated that your vehicle must be registered in the country where you are resident.
Perhaps I'm mistaken, does anyone know for sure?

The Directive on registration policy is that you can retain a vehicle at a EU home which is registered at that home even if that is not your country of residence. Local officials don't really know that but will comply if you force them to check higher up.
Officials in Italy are equally ignorant.

Hi first post we are non resident owners. We bought a car from a main dealer earlier this year. Dealer insisted on proof of padron before transaction could proceed. We explained our situation at local town hall who were happy to put us on padron subject to deeds, proof of IBI payment etc. Seen various things since that suggest we shouldn't be on padron if not resident - but we would not have been able to buy a car from the main dealer without the padron fortunately we will be there permanently soon in any event

As Concierge for the Spanish section of BE I would like to say hello and welcome.

BE is a very large expat website, so if you have problems finding your way around we have concierges who will try to direct you. The moderators for the Spanish forums are Mitzyboy and Fred James, moderators are there to ensure that the site runs smoothly within the rules of BE. Problems and complaints should always be addressed to a moderador who will look into the matter and deal with it efficiently and fairly. Our members who post in the Spain Forums are friendly and helpful with a wealth of knowledge of the issues of living in Spain. At the top of the page you will find a quirkily named thread called Free Beer which is full of important and useful information. Hope you enjoy your time participating in the forums.

Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary

Thank you Rosemary. Still not sure if being on padron as non resident is wrong and the consequences if so, though.

it IS wrong - & while there might not be immediate consequences it can cause problems down the line if you do move here

for instance, if you import your car when you come here, & they check padrón records to see when you moved here, you will likely have been here too long, on paper, to benefit from importing it as 'goods & chattels' & have to pay more

it's very simple - it's a list of RESIDENTS - if you don't live here, you aren't a resident, are you?

So - you can't be on the padron unless you are resident, you can't register a car unless you are on the padron, you can buy a car if you are not resident, you can get on the padron if you are non-resident.

Doesn't add up does it?

It's a good example of the Spanish authorities not knowing what they are doing.