Entering Spain with a dog or cat from a third country

The rule in one sentence

A pet arriving from a third country may only enter Spain through a designated Punto de Entrada de Viajeros. Elsewhere, the official veterinary check simply does not exist.

This is not an administrative preference. Without a designated entry point there is nobody to check the file, so nothing to validate, and the animal falls under the regime for non-compliant animals.

What is provided for if the file fails

The ministry document provides three measures, under Article 11b of Regulation (EU) 2019/2122: redispatch to the country of origin, isolation, euthanasia. They are not all available everywhere — and that is the most concrete reason to choose your entry point rather than accept whichever one you land at.

Girona and Tarragona (Reus) provide only for redispatch: no isolation is possible there. Bilbao provides for redispatch and euthanasia, with no isolation. At those three points, an incomplete file has no intermediate way out.

The twenty-nine entry points

Each row shows the mode of transport, the measures provided for, and the associated isolation centre where one exists. "R" redispatch, "A" isolation, "E" euthanasia.

Two anomalies in the official document

Castellón and Vigo are listed as "AEROPUERTO" with their port address. We reproduce the classification exactly as it appears at source, because that is what the document says — but we flag it, rather than quietly correcting it and creating a gap between our table and the official list the officer at the counter will be holding.

Barcelona: the collection procedure, in detail

For Barcelona the document sets out a procedure the other points do not detail: report to the cargo warehouse offices — WFS or Swissport — between ninety minutes and two hours after landing to collect the original documents, then take them to the Sanidad Animal office in the CLASA building.

A sourcing detail that nearly caught us out

The PDF filename published by the ministry says "20-10-2025". The document header says "Actualizado: 02/06/2026". It is the content date that governs, not the URL: citing the source by its filename would have aged the document by eight months. The Spanish header cites Real Decreto 990/2022; the English header of the same document already cites Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/131 — the ministry has moved to the new European framework.

Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación

Documented routes into Spain

52 routes in our catalogue arrive in Spain, with the airlines that accept the animal and the applicable entry regime.

• JFK → MAD
• JFK → BCN
• MIA → MAD
• MIA → BCN
• LAX → MAD
• LAX → BCN
• ORD → MAD
• ORD → BCN
• SFO → MAD
• SFO → BCN
• BOS → MAD
• BOS → BCN
• ATL → MAD
• ATL → BCN
• DFW → MAD
• DFW → BCN
• SEA → MAD
• SEA → BCN
• EWR → MAD
• EWR → BCN
• IAD → MAD
• IAD → BCN
• YYZ → MAD
• YYZ → BCN
• YUL → MAD
• YUL → BCN
• MEX → MAD
• MEX → BCN
• BOG → MAD
• BOG → BCN
• GRU → MAD
• GRU → BCN
• EZE → MAD
• EZE → BCN
• LIM → MAD
• LIM → BCN
• SCL → MAD
• SCL → BCN
• CDG → MAD
• CDG → BCN
• MAD → BCN
• BCN → MAD
• UIO → MAD
• UIO → BCN
• MVD → MAD
• MVD → BCN
• ASU → MAD
• ASU → BCN
• VVI → MAD
• VVI → BCN
• PTY → MAD
• PTY → BCN

Further reading

• Buenos Aires or Bogotá: the same dog, the same Madrid, months apart
• EU pet health certificate: what changes on 1 October 2026
• Pet passport: what you actually need to know

The other regimes

• United States: the rules state by stateNo federal rule for a domestic flight. Eleven states require nothing.
• Overseas France: European Union or third countryFort-de-France and Nouméa look like the same flight. They are not.
• Latin America: who is exempt from the titration testArgentina, Chile and Mexico yes. Seven other countries no, and that is three months.
• Japan, Australia, Singapore: the long regimesFrom 120 to 210 days. And the clock does not start at vaccination.