who carries their passport?

[spanish_lad]

i carry mine all the time, but the last one got messed up and they wouldn't let me fly out....

who else carries theirs full time?

[antonia]

I don't know why as i never need to use them but i carry mine and my 2 children's with me at all times...as well as my driving license and residencia card and bank cards and all sorts of cr p in my handbag

[JAWG]

As a Canadian, I always carry mine in Spain. At least when we are going out of the immediate area of our apartment.

[JAWG]

The down side of that. In '06, we were entertaining some fellow Canadians. Went to Sevilla. Our friend's purse suddenly disappeared. That cost us several days to get a temporary passport from the Canadian office in Malaga.
This year (Feb. 2008) they intend to carry only a photocopy. Is this liable to cause problems?

[pete_l]

This year (Feb. 2008) they intend to carry only a photocopy. Is this liable to cause problems?

I've heard you can get notarised (in the spanish notary's office) copies of a passport - complete with unique serial number and the notary's stamp. They're supposed to be as good as the real thing. Has anyone got any real-life experience of this. Do they pass the "Guardia test"?

[julian]

you can get a copy "compulsada" in the town hall, costs about 15 centimos and takes about 2 minutes

[palmtrees]

We got photocopies of ours authorised by the British consulate in Málaga. You can get it done in Spanish or English. Can't remember the cost, it wasn't cheap.

Guardia don't tend to stop us though so no idea how useful they are in Spain. They work for stuff like British buildiing societies and banks and things if you need to send them ID eg for change of address.

We tend to carry ID on longer journeys but not usually round the beach, village or cycling in and out of town. Mainly cos we forget it rather than being major disobeyers of the law.

[Campo Kenny]

I never carry mine, ever ...............OH insists violently in carrying it for me as she says I'll lose it if she doesn't

[spanish_lad]

i thought it was compulsary ?

when i've been stopped driving i've always been asked for it?

why does nobody else carry theirs?

i might have to get a notorised copy and see if thats ok ... ? ??

[princess peach]

I too thought it was compulsory to carry your id...
I always carry my passport....and residence card....wherever i go.
you never know what they may ask for if you get stopped by the guardia

[El Cid]

i thought it was compulsary ?

when i've been stopped driving i've always been asked for it?

why does nobody else carry theirs?

i might have to get a notorised copy and see if thats ok ... ? ??

It used to be compulsory and it was an offence not to do so.

That is no longer the case but you are obliged to prove you identity to the police if asked. If you cannot do so you may well be detained until you can so in effect, yes you are well advised to carry some form of ID.

A normal copy of any document, if used for identification, could be considered a forgery. It will be accepted 95% of the time but there is always going to be an exception - usually late at night by a stroppy Trafico officer! It is far better to get a authenticated copy from either a notary or the town hall.

I scanned my residencia, passport and driving licence onto one A4 sheet and had that stamped by the town hall. I think it cost 2 euros.

Sid

[McT]

It used to be compulsory and it was an offence not to do so. That is no longer the case but you are obliged to prove you identity to the police if asked.
Sid

I used to carry my passport until it started falling apart. I now rely on my driving licence. However I have never been stopped, so I don't know if this will be accepted.

McT

[MrsP]

We have copies stamped by a notary and have never been refused anything with them.
Omly use passports for notary appointments and travelling by plane.

I've had my bag snatched once, not risking them being stolen.

[ValL]

I carry my passport or a photo copy of the main page wherever I go. I have never been asked for and never to needed to prove who I am as yet. Hope it stays that way too !

[Wicksey]

Meanwhile, back to the subject of who carries their passport .......

As I have a residencia card I don't carry my passport as I'm afraid of losing it. When I pay by debit card I'm always asked for ID so the residencia is acceptable for that, but both that and my passport expire at the same time so there may be a time when I have no ID. I'm not sure what else the shops accept (I don't have the 'new' photo driving licence). Now I read that I will only have a UFGBP (= useless flappy green bit of paper, or something like that!) to replace my very useful residencia card, so it looks as though I shall have to go back to carrying the passport again. I don't want to have to keep producing a paper copy of things as they just fall apart and they would be fiddly use. Maybe my old student ID card would do ...... but then again I have aged a bit since then
BTW I'm not a shopaholic, but do use my debit card at least once or twice a week for food, diesel etc.

[JAWG]

Just to complicate things - Our driver's licence here has a photo. Would this be acceptable as ID in Spain?

[katy]

Should be, the UK ones are.

[palmtrees]

But Canadian ones aren't EU. Although sometimes the GC don't think UK is EU.

[Colinm]

But Canadian ones aren't EU. Although sometimes the GC don't think UK is EU.

and sometimes UK don't think UK is EU

[laclotte]

and when we fly anywhere to or from CH we fly with rules governing outside EU despite being surrounded by EU neighbours We have completely different passport controls, in both exit and entrance country. We very often fly into a different terminal than all EU countries, ie flying into Malaga we always land by terminal 2, the rest of Europe terminal 1. One good point though....our duty free allowance is much higher than EU countries.