Spain passport photo
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The requirements
| Print size | 26 x 32 mm |
|---|---|
| Head height, chin to crown | The authority publishes no head height |
| Background | Plain uniform white background, smooth and without pattern or shadow. |
| Head covering | Allowed, as long as the whole face is visible. |
| Also required |
|
Spain does not use the 35x45 mm ICAO print size for the paper photograph handed in at the counter. Both the Ministry of the Interior and the National Police write the size as 32 x 26 mm, which is the classic Spanish carne format given as height by width, so the printed photo is 26 mm wide and 32 mm high in portrait orientation. No head height, eye line or maximum photo age is published for the Spanish passport, so those fields are deliberately absent rather than guessed. The application is always made in person at a Unidad de Documentacion, and the photograph is handed over on paper; there is no online upload. If the DNI was issued or renewed the same day, no photo is required at all.
Applying in Spain
Spain does not use the portrait shape the rest of Europe uses. Almost every neighbouring country asks for a 35 mm by 45 mm photograph; the Spanish requirement is 26 by 32, on a uniform, smooth white background. A photograph cut to the common European size is the wrong shape here, and it is the mistake most likely to be made by anyone who has applied elsewhere or who asks a photographer for a standard passport photo without saying which country it is for.
The second thing to know is that your photograph may not be used at all. Spain's model is capture at the counter. Documentation units fitted with a Modulo de Expedicion Multiple can take your image directly even when you have brought one with you, and units with automated facilities can produce the photograph on the spot. Attendance in person is compulsory, an appointment is required, and there is no digital photo code and no upload route.
There is one arrangement worth planning around, and it removes the problem entirely. If you obtain or renew your DNI on the same day, no photograph is required for the passport at all, because the image captured for the identity card serves both documents. Booking the two appointments together turns a photographic problem into a scheduling one, which is by some distance the easier of the two to solve.
Why photos get rejected here
The photo is cut to the common European size
A 35 mm by 45 mm print is not the Spanish format. Ask a photographer for a Spanish passport or DNI photo by name rather than for a passport photo, because the default they reach for is the size used almost everywhere else.
The background is not white, uniform and smooth
The requirement names all three qualities together. A cream or light grey background that would pass in the United Kingdom, and a light background that is required in France, both fail the Spanish wording.
Dark lenses, or anything covering the face
The rule excludes glasses with dark lenses and any other garment that could prevent identification. It is written as a general exclusion rather than a list, so the test is whether the item obstructs recognition.
The oval of the face is not fully shown
The photograph must clearly show the oval of the face, which the requirement defines as including the eyebrows, eyes, nose, mouth and chin. A fringe over the eyebrows and a high collar under the chin each remove part of that.
Low resolution or poor photographic paper
The wording asks for high resolution on good quality photographic paper. An inkjet print on ordinary paper fails on the material even where the image itself is correct.
What helps
Do the DNI and the passport on the same day
If you get or renew your DNI the same day, the passport needs no photograph. This is the only route we found in Europe where the photo requirement disappears entirely, and it costs nothing but appointment planning.
Ask for a Spanish size by name
Photographers outside Spain, and photo booths set to an international default, produce the common European portrait. Naming the document and the country avoids a print you cannot use.
Expect to be photographed anyway
Where the documentation unit has multiple-issue equipment, staff may take your image directly even though you brought one. Bringing a photograph is insurance rather than a guarantee that it will be the one used.
White, and only white
Spain is the mirror image of France on this point. France forbids a white background; Spain requires one. If you are preparing photographs for both, they are two different photographs.
Check whether you pay at all
The passport fee is EUR 30.00 and the DNI fee is EUR 12.00 as of September 2026. Both are waived for a familia numerosa, and the DNI is free when renewed for a change of data or address.
Babies and young children
We could not confirm a Spanish rule that relaxes the photograph requirements for babies or young children, and we are not going to invent one. What we can confirm is that the passport validity is shorter for the young, running two years for children under five and five years up to the age of thirty, so a child's photograph is retaken often. In practice the counter capture model helps here: where the documentation unit takes the image itself, the responsibility for producing an acceptable frame of a small child sits with the operator rather than with you.
Glasses
The only eyewear rule we could confirm is the exclusion of glasses with dark lenses, which appears in the requirement alongside a general exclusion of any garment that could prevent identification. We did not find a published Spanish rule on clear prescription glasses, on frame thickness, or on reflections, so we are not stating one. The practical advice is unchanged and comes from the general standard rather than from Spain: removing glasses eliminates reflection and frame obstruction at once, and if the office photographs you itself, the operator will tell you what they want.
Head covering
The DNI requirement states that the photograph must be taken with the head completely uncovered. The passport wording is different in form and similar in effect, excluding any garment that could prevent identification. We did not find a published religious or medical exception in either text. That is a significant gap rather than a settled answer, so if this affects your application, ask the National Police documentation unit directly when you book, rather than relying on a photographic guide including this one.
Applying online
Attendance in person is compulsory and there is no digital photo code or upload route. Units equipped with a Modulo de Expedicion Multiple may capture your image directly at the counter, even if you supply a photograph. We publish no pixel or file size figures on this page because Spain does not publish any: there is no channel through which an applicant sends a file.
Questions about Spain photos
Why is the Spanish photo size different from the rest of Europe?
We can confirm what the size is, not why. The requirement published by the Ministry of the Interior specifies the Spanish format for both the passport and the DNI, and it is smaller than the portrait used by most neighbouring countries.
Do I need a photo at all for a Spanish passport?
Not if you obtain or renew your DNI on the same day. The requirement states that no photograph is needed for the passport in that case, because the image taken for the identity card covers both.
Can the office refuse the photo I bring and take its own?
Yes. Where a documentation unit has a Modulo de Expedicion Multiple, the requirement allows staff to take your image directly even though you have supplied a photograph.
What do the passport and the DNI cost?
EUR 30.00 for the passport and EUR 12.00 for the DNI as of September 2026. A familia numerosa pays nothing for either, and a DNI renewed only to change data or address is free.
How long does a Spanish passport take to arrive?
We could not confirm an official processing time. Spanish documentation units generally issue at the appointment, but no published statement of a processing period was found, so we are not quoting one.
Where these numbers come from
Official sourceEvery measurement on this page comes from the issuing authority's own published requirements.
- Pasaporte: Procedimiento de expedicionchecked September 2, 2026
- Pasaporte: Requisitos para la obtencionchecked September 2, 2026
Reviewed by Editorial teamHow we check our numbers