Spaniards in London 🇪🇸

The trick nobody tells you: appointments are released only on the 1st and 15th of each month and last a couple of hours at most. Prerequisite: enrolment in the Registro de Matrícula Consular (with your number and PIN). The passport takes 3-4 weeks — it's printed in Spain and returns by diplomatic pouch.

No — the DNI is only issued and renewed in Spain, before the Policía Nacional. What the consulate does issue is the residence certificate you need to renew it in Spain without re-registering as a resident there.

The voto rogado was abolished in 2022 (LO 12/2022): if you're on the CERA roll you receive the paperwork automatically, can download the ballot online, and deposit your vote at the consular ballot box over 7 days or send it by post. The critical bit: keep your details up to date at the consulate.

Yes. If you naturalised as Spanish (in Spain or by treaty), your passport, consular registration and vote are all handled here, at Draycott Place — the same process as any Spaniard. Thousands of Colombians, Bolivians and Ecuadorians in London are in exactly your case.

Enrolment in the Registro de Matrícula Consular is the key to nearly everything: without it there's no passport appointment, no CERA to vote, no certificates. If you've just arrived, it's your first Spanish errand.