Bringing a Dog or Cat from the US to Spain (2026)

Quick checklist

• Follow all hub rules (microchip, rabies, new EU certificate, USDA endorsement).
• Use a certificate in Spanish and English.
• If you import a pet, Art. 61 requires registration within 72 hours. Pets travelling with their owner follow EU rules. Register with your region soon after moving (ask a local vet).
• Arrive through a designated travellers' entry point (PEV).
• Declare your pet at the control point.
• Check if your dog needs a potentially dangerous dog licence.

Country extras

• Pets from outside the EU must enter through an authorised travellers' entry point (PEV). MAPA list dated 26 Oct 2026.
• Declare your pet to the Guardia Civil or authorised customs staff. They check documents and read the microchip.
• The health certificate must include Spanish (MAPA). EU rules require English and at least one official language of the country of entry (Reg. 2026/705), so use the Spanish/English version. Bring a certified copy of ID and vaccination data.
• Potentially dangerous breeds (Annex I, Royal Decree 287/2002): Pit Bull Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, Rottweiler, Dogo Argentino, Fila Brasileiro, Tosa Inu, Akita Inu, and their crosses. Dogs matching Annex II traits are also included.
• Owners need a municipal licence. It lasts 5 years.
• Licence needs: physical and psychological fitness certificates and liability insurance of at least €120,000.
• The dog must be on the municipal register of potentially dangerous animals.
• Carry the licence and the registration certificate in public.

Ley 7/2023 (national animal welfare law)

• Training course and insurance (Art. 30): people who choose to keep a dog must complete a free training course (valid for life) and hold third-party liability insurance for their dogs.
• The course content and insurance details depend on a regulation. Spain notified a draft to the European Commission in March 2026 (TRIS 2026/0118/ES). As of 29 Oct 2026, we found no final regulation published in the BOE.
• Art. 30 itself has no delayed start date, but the course content and the minimum insurance amount are both left to that regulation, so in practice there is no national course to take yet and no national minimum cover. Your region or town may already require dog insurance. Potentially dangerous breeds always need €120,000 insurance.
• Visitors: the law does not say clearly whether the course and insurance apply to short-term visitors. Ask your town hall if you stay a long time. Unverified: unclear for short-term visitors
• Registration (Art. 61): if you import a pet, Art. 61 requires registration within 72 hours. Pets travelling with their owner follow EU rules. Register with your region soon after moving (ask a local vet).
• Ask a local vet which regional register applies. They can register your pet.

Timeline additions

Common mistakes

Landing at an airport that is not a designated entry point.

A certificate with no Spanish text.

Not getting a municipal licence for a listed breed.

Airlines

Checked 29 Oct 2026. See the hub table for all carriers.

• Iberia: pet and carrier up to 8 kg in the cabin, max 45 x 35 x 25 cm (total 105 cm). Cabin fee America zone: USD 215 online, USD 235 at the airport, per segment. Hold: pet and kennel up to 45 kg, book at least 48 hours ahead. No hold pets on Madrid–Boston or Madrid–Washington (IAD). Snub-nosed dogs and cats are not accepted in the hold (for example Boxer, Bulldog, Pug, Shih Tzu, Persian). Not accepted at all: Pit Bull Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, Rottweiler, Doberman, Dogo Argentino, Fila Brasileiro, Tosa and Akita.
• United: cabin pets USD 150 each way. No pets to or from Bilbao. No checked pets.
• Delta: pets allowed in the cabin to Spain. International fee USD 200 each way.
• American: no carry-on pets on transatlantic trips.

Unverified / not covered Not covered on this page yet: Air France fees and snub-nosed list, ITA hold rules, Virgin Atlantic cargo, ferries. Ask the carrier directly before you book.

Questions people ask

Guide checked: 29 October 2026