Obtaining a Police Report in Madrid

Obtaining a police report in Madrid is actually relatively quick and painless. You may be thinking, ‘why would I need a police report?’

You could need a police report for a foreign visa, for example, or for a variety of other legal reasons. If you do need proof that you’re not a criminal (at least not here in Spain that is), you’ll need a police report from the Spanish authorities. Here’s a step-by-step guide to getting your official “certificado de antecedentes penales”.

Go to the Ministerio de Justicia, which is located in the Plaza de Jacinto Benavente, very close to Cine Ideal. They are open until 5pm, but the banks close at 2pm (see below), so I recommend going before 1pm to get this all taken care of in one visit.

• Pick up the appropriate form in the entry way (the one that says antecedentes penales).
• Fill out the form. It’s basic info like name, address, etc.
• Go to a local bank, there are a bunch near the Ministerio, such as the Caja Madrid on Calle Carretas, and pay 3,54 Euro. You need to have the form filled out before they will process the fee. You do not need to have an account at the bank to process this.
• After the bank stamps your form, go back to the Ministerio de Justicia and take a number from the machine. Make sure you select antecedentes penales from the options on the screen and it will print the appropriate ticket.
• When your number is called, go to the window. Have your passport with you, as you will need to show it to the representative. You will also need to state why you need the report. The representative will print the report.
• Then you sit again and wait for your number to be called again.
• When it’s called the second time take the report and go to another desk. The person here will place an Apostille on the back side of the report.

And, wha la! You are in possession of proof that you are an upstanding citizen here in Spain.