REGISTERING on the local census has become a lucrative business in Madrid as foreign arrivals pay up to €200 for illegal ‘address-for-cash’ services.
If done legally, registering at your local Ayuntamiento is a completely free process, but desperate individuals have turned to the black market because they are unable to gain the necessary documents to complete the process legally.
This required paperwork includes a signed contract by the property owner and proof that you are paying rent – a letter from the owner or gas or water bill may also be required.
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Adverts for the illegal registration service are all over social media – publishers claim that they are able to grant customers an empadronamiento (padron for short), the document which shows you have registered onto the census and is necessary to begin residency processes, grant children a place in school, and access medical care.
New arrivals have 90 days to register at their Ayuntamiento with successful registration resulting in an empadronamiento.
Mateo Salcedo, a 28 year old Colombian, was unable to get the necessary documents to go about registering legally so sought after these illegal services.
Upon arriving in the capital with his partner and dog he was told by the person who rented him his flat that he could not register his residence there because of a ‘bureaucratic problem’.
After contacting numerous sellers via social media in October 2024 he received a reply from a profile which charged €160.
Salcedo was instructed to meet someone who acted as his flatmate outside the town hall and was briefed on how he should answer any questions asked by officials – he would then pay the fee in cash upon exiting the town hall after a successful registration.
He was, however, rejected with the official saying that if he really lives at the presented address he should call the police ‘because on the system it seems over 70 people have a padron there’.
This was a similar situation that Alejandro Martinez found himself in after paying €200 to get his empadronamiento in Madrid – he was rejected due to too many people having registered at the address, even though Martinez and his wife were the property’s only residents.
For Salcedo, the black market provided him with another option – paying €150 he met with a different individual who filled in the registration form given at the appointment where Salcedo was successfully granted his empadronamiento.
Then, months later, Salcedo’s partner paid €80 for her own registration.
What is a necessary and free process has become an obstacle for immigrants who battle with bureaucracy to register their arrival in Spain.
Part of the issue is due to too many people wanting to register in the country, says Mayte Zabalza, a spokesperson for Padron por Derechos.
In Madrid on January 1, 3,527,924 people were registered but in the last year this has grown by 67,433 people.
Over 800 individuals are also registered in social centres in the Lavapies neighbourhood, something which was previously prevented but overturned two months ago.
Another issue is that those desiring an empadronamiento struggle to gain the documents necessary to prove their address at the registration appointment.
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‘For many foreigners, getting a padron is not a simple task. Those that rent rooms or share flats usually find reluctance from property owners allowing them to register at the address. In some instances, townhalls reject padrons in addresses where there are numerous people already registered,’ explains Mariana Rios, an Mariana Rios, an international lawyer and the director of ExtranLex consultancy.
Some landlords even charge extra for those who want to register at their address, despite these individuals already paying rent to reside in the home. This move by landlords is also illegal.
Going via the black market might come with a hefty price tag but it allows individuals to bypass this bureaucracy associated with legally registering themselves.
Gaining an empadronamiento is, as Rio emphasises, of fundamental importance for all citizens, even more so for foreigners in Spain.
Therefore, what conmen have done, is latched onto a problem that many are facing and have found themselves a lucrative new business in illegally registering new arrivals.
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