Marriage and civil partnership

Getting Married Before a Notary

Marriage in Spain Before a Notary

A Faster and More Flexible Way to Get Married in Spain

Getting married before a notary in Spain has become a faster and more efficient option since April 30, 2021, especially for international couples. This legal update simplified the process and reduced dependency on the Civil Registry.

Before this reform, notaries could officiate marriages but were not allowed to process the matrimonial file, meaning couples had to first complete the entire procedure at the Civil Registry, often facing long waiting times.

Since the legal change, notaries can now manage the entire marriage process, including the preparation and approval of the matrimonial file. This allows couples to complete all steps in one place, making the process significantly more streamlined.

As a result, timelines can be reduced from several months to just a few weeks in many cases. While the initial notary is assigned by the Notarial Association, couples can later choose the notary for the ceremony, making this a flexible and practical option for getting married in Spain.

Required Documents to Get Marriedbefore a notary

Getting married before a notary is the fastest way to formalize your union, but having the correct paperwork is essential, both parties must provide the following documentation:

Valid Identification: Original passports or NIE for both individuals.
Literal Birth Certificates: Recently issued and, if foreign, properly legalized or apostilled.
Historical Census Certificate (Empadronamiento): Proof of residence for the last two years.
Marital Status Certificates: For single parties: A Certificate of No Impediment or Bachelorhood
For divorced or widowed parties: A Literal Marriage Certificate with the divorce decree noted, or a Death Certificate of the previous spouse.
Certificate of Edicts: Foreign citizens must provide a certificate stating whether the publication of marriage banns (edicts) is required by their national law.

Here we must differentiate between two phases:

1. File the Matrimonial File before a notary.

The first of the phases that we must initiate is that of the file as such, that is to say to begin with the matrimonial file. For this we must do two things:

First to manage all the documentation that we have commented to you.
To send a form to the College of Notaries of our Autonomous Community so that they designate us a notary's office.

As we say, once we have sent the form with all the data, from the College of Notaries they will assign us a notary near our domicile. In this first step it is not possible to make a free choice of the notary, but they will assign us one from the College of Notaries. Next, we leave you the information, the forms and how to make the request of this matrimonial file in each Autonomous Community.

Matrimonial File before a Notary in Madrid

You must send this form as a PDF file, correctly signed, along with the ID or Passport and the certificate of census registration to the email: matrimonios@madrid.notariado.org (Clic here)
You can also submit your application in person at Calle Ruiz de Alarcón 3, from 8.30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Matrimonial File before a Notary in Andalusia, Ceuta or Melilla.

Those interested in the notarial authorization of the marriage certificate must complete the application form and send it, together with a copy of the census certificate of the party whose address is to serve as the connection point, to one of these two e-mail addresses: (Clic to see)
expedientematrimonial.se@andalucia.notariado.org, if the chosen address is in the provinces of Cadiz, Cordoba, Huelva or Seville or in the autonomous city of Ceuta.
expedientematrimonial.gr@andalucia.notariado.org, if the chosen address is in the provinces of Almería, Granada, Jaén or Málaga or in the autonomous city of Melilla.

Matrimonial File before a Notary in the Community of Valencia

The application, once completed, together with the receipt of the bank deposit of the provision of funds, must be sent to the following e-mail address: expedientematrimonial@cnotarial-valencia.com. (Clic to see)
It may also be submitted in person at any notary or at the different offices of the Notarial Association in Valencia, Castellón or Alicante.

Matrimonial File before a Notary in Murcia

Applications to request the processing of the preliminary marriage certificate may be made in person at the Notarial Association of Murcia or by e-mail to the following e-mail address: expedientesmatrimoniales@murcia.notariado.org, in both cases accompanying the form published on this page, duly completed, together with a copy of the ID card of the applicants and of their certificate of census registration, all in PDF format. (Clic to see)

Matrimonial File before a Notary in Catalonia

We leave you the note issued by the College of Notaries of Catalonia as well as the contact details. (Clic to see)

Matrimonial File before a Notary in Extremadura

By e-mail: Send this form in PDF, together with the DNI and census registration number to the following e-mail address: expedientes_matrimoniales@extremadura.notariado.org, enclosing: (Clic to see)
By post: Ilustre Colegio Notarial de Extremadura, C/ Muñoz Chaves, nº 10. Entrance to offices C/ Camberos, nº 1) 10003-Cáceres.
In person: Offices of the Notarial Association of Extremadura, at C/ Camberos, nº 1 10003 Cáceres

Matrimonial File before a Notary in Castilla La Mancha

By e-mail: send the completed and signed application form and a copy of the ID cards or passports and the certificates of census registration of both parties to the following address: secretaria@castilla-lamancha.notariado.org

Or in person, providing ID cards of both parties and census registration certificate, from 10:30 am to 2:00 pm, at: The Headquarters of the Notarial Association in Albacete, Calle Marqués de Molins, number 4. The Delegation of the Association in Toledo, Calle Berna 2, from 9:00am to 2:00pm

Matrimonial File before a Notary in the Basque Country

By mail: send PDF of the completed and signed application, the DNI or Passports and the certificate of census registration to the mail: colegio@paisvasco.notariado.org.

O In person at the Notarial Association, in any of its three offices from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm, bringing the original DNI of both parties and the original and photocopy of the certificate of census registration.

Matrimonial File before a Notary in the Balearic Islands:

The contact details of the College of Notaries are: C/ Vía Roma, 4, Tel: 971 712 244 Fax: 971 718 764, 07012 PALMA DE MALLORCA, e-mail: colegio@baleares.notariado.org

Matrimonial File before a Notary in Castilla y León

The contact details of the College of Notaries in Castilla y León are: Teresa Gil, 14 47002 Valladolid (Valladolid), Telephone: 983.217.775, Telefax: 983.217.776, E-mail: info @castillayleon.notariado.org

Matrimonial File before a Notary in Aragon

The address of the College of Notaries in Aragon is Plaza del Justicia, 2, Telephone 976 20.37.80, fax 976 20 37 81. Email addresses: info@aragon.notariado.org or secretaria@aragon.notariado.org

Matrimonial File before a Notary in Cantabria

The address of the College of Notaries in Cantabria is Avenida de los Infantes Nº5-B (Access by C/ Sojo y Lomba)39005 Santander (Cantabria), e-mail: consumidores@cantabria.notariado.org, Telephone: 942274011 Fax: 942291235.

Matrimonial File before a Notary in Galicia

We leave you the contact information of the College of Notaries of Galicia. The address is: Arzobispo Lago, 12 (CP 15004) – A Coruña, Telephones: 981 12 04 81 – 981 12 04 78 – 981 12 25 68 – 981 12 26 04, fax : 981 12 20 14, e-mail: info@galicia.notariado.org

Matrimonial File before a Notary in Navarra

We leave you the contact information of the Colegio de Notarios de Navarra. The address is: Avda. Carlos III el Noble, 27, 31002 Pamplona/Iruña (Navarra), Tel: 948.228.938 – Email: info@navarra.notariado.org

Matrimonial File before a Notary in the Canary Islands

We leave you the contact information of the College of Notaries.

HEADQUARTERS IN LAS PALMAS DE GRAN CANARIA: The address is: C. Los Balcones,18, 35001 – Las Palmas de G.C. Tel: 928336178 – 928336186, Fax: 928317961, colegio@canarias.notariado.org archivo@canarias.notariado.org

DELEGATION IN STA. CRUZ DE TENERIFE: Calle El Pilar 7, 1º, Sta. Cruz de Tenerife. Telf: 922298066, Fax: 922281222, delegaciontenerife@canarias.notariado.org

2. Saying “I do” before a notary

Once we have the matrimonial file as such, we could choose our notary of our free choice to be able to say “I do”.

You must take into account that each phase will take a specific time depending on the volume of work that each notary office has. Other aspects that we want to emphasize is that each notary will establish the cost of each of the processes, that is to say that we must pay a cost to initiate the matrimonial file and another additional cost for the wedding, that is to say to be able to give the “yes I want”.

It is great news that this can be a great advantage for all those people who want to get married, and that will be able to finish the process in a few weeks. This also opens the possibility that if you have a foreign partner, he/she will be able to access the community card earlier.