For 2024 Pilgrims: €50,- donation = 1 year with no ads on the forum + 90% off any 2024 Guide. More here. (Discount code sent to you by Private Message after your donation) |
---|
I was out walking today... thinking about my pack and what to take and not take and a question popped into my head... do I actually need to take my passport?
I have a UK passport and UK photo driving license - would the plastic driving license be enough? We're driving down to SJPdP as it's only 3 hours from home. We've never been asked for our passport when we cross between France and Spain or France and Italy... so could I leave it at home? It would certainly be one less thing to worry about?
Carry your valid official national passport with you at all times.
I was out walking today... thinking about my pack and what to take and not take and a question popped into my head... do I actually need to take my passport?
I have a UK passport and UK photo driving license - would the plastic driving license be enough? We're driving down to SJPdP as it's only 3 hours from home. We've never been asked for our passport when we cross between France and Spain or France and Italy... so could I leave it at home? It would certainly be one less thing to worry about?
Bajaracer - I live in France
Ok, not such a good idea then. I was kind of hoping it was one document I could leave at home and not worry about keeping safe or dry.
Bajaracer - I live in France (3 hours from SJPdP) which is why I wondered (because of the Schengen Agreement) if i could do without... I wasn't sure about the Albergues... it would have just been one less thing to worry about... trying to keep things as simple as possible
thanks for all the swift answers... I know you'd all know!
Your question is answered, just would like to add my experience.thanks for all the replies... A passport is back on the list
Off subject somewhat but this will sound very silly, One of my favorite things about my worn-out passport is the stamps from countries I have visited. When I cross into Spain on foot I doubt I will get a stamp. Silly isn't it? Has anyone have some thoughts?
Thanks
Ok, not such a good idea then. I was kind of hoping it was one document I could leave at home and not worry about keeping safe or dry.
Bajaracer - I live in France (3 hours from SJPdP) which is why I wondered (because of the Schengen Agreement) if i could do without... I wasn't sure about the Albergues... it would have just been one less thing to worry about... trying to keep things as simple as possible
thanks for all the swift answers... I know you'd all know!
Yes, your passport is required by Spanish law in every place you stop the night. A few albergues don't ask, but they are supposed to. As in France, you are required to keep your "papers" with you at all times.
We only asked for a passport or identity card so we could properly write the name and country information. The Pilgrim Credential has the info but is often impossible to read. The passport/identity number is on the credential. No need of passport if the pilgrim credential is readable.
The staff at the Pilgrim Office often asks for passport/national card for the same reason....to clearly see the name and country.
No way: since the Schengen Treaty, there is only the outside border for all countries that have signed it. So no internal border, no control, no stamp. That's what it means to be a union, doesn't it?Off subject somewhat but this will sound very silly, One of my favorite things about my worn-out passport is the stamps from countries I have visited. When I cross into Spain on foot I doubt I will get a stamp. Silly isn't it? Has anyone have some thoughts?
Thanks
This answer from 2014 is still valid. Also we now leave a copy of all documents, or at least a record of their numbers with a family member. If the original is lost then it is much easier to deal with the issue if you have a photocopy or the relevant details.and it is always a good idea to have a photocopy of your passport kept somewhere else in your pack
Just to let you know I made this in feb 2014. Just prior to my walk yes my entire 42 days entering & leaving my U.S. passport never stamped, no worries, the pilgrim passport totally coveredNo way: since the Schengen Treaty, there is only the outside border for all countries that have signed it. So no internal border, no control, no stamp. That's what it means to be a union, doesn't it?
The Guardia Civil maintains a database of pilgrims and where they stay. Supposedly, all albergues are required to update this database with ID of all their guests. I am well aware that many albergues ignore this. And the only way for la Guardia to detect a violation would be to send someone out posing as a pilgrim, then check whether the correct information was uploaded. All the required data is on any passport or national ID: Name, birthdate, issue date of the ID, country, and ID number. If the pilgrim is Spanish, the database program does verify the data with the DNI database. It probably also verifies NIE for a registered foreigner, but I never uploaded one of those.As I understand it, and I may be quite wrong in some of the following assumptios, we are not required by law to have our UK passport with us at all times - the French and Spanish are required to carry their National ID cards with them. So, from that point of view you don't need it with you and there are no requirements to present identity for border crossings within Schengen.
However, as hospitalero, I was occasionally presented with a photocopy, which is just as good. All I have to do is record the number, and enter it into an online form hosted by Guardia Civil. And unless it is a Spanish DNI or TIE, the number is not checked against anything. (In fact, I wonder whether anyone looks at that database. More than once, la Guardia has called us on the phone asking if some missing person had stayed with us.)Yes, your passport is required by Spanish law in every place you stop the night. A few albergues don't ask, but they are supposed to. As in France, you are required to keep your "papers" with you at all times.
I think there is a cultural/linguistic misunderstanding here. People from countries without a national ID card system tend to say that you need to show your national passport for identification at check in at a hotel or an albergue in Spain but it's short for "national passport if you have the nationality of a country without a national ID card system and are not from the EU/EEA/Schengen area, or either your national passport or your national ID card otherwise".
Frankly, I don't even recall what they ask me in Spain, be it in English or in Spanish, but whatever it is that is said, whether passport or pasaporte or something else, I always show them my national ID card, and there's never been any reaction to it, not even a batting of an eyelid. Nor would I expect any reaction.
Here's an easy rule of the thumb: the document that allows you to go through "passport control" at your national border is the document you need to present for identification in Spanish albergues and hotels.
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?