Police dismantle trade in fake padrón registrations: up to 600 euros per address

The padrón, the municipal register, is the key to almost everything for anyone living in Spain: healthcare, schooling, residency. Which is exactly why there is a trade in it. Under the name operation Costa, the Policía Nacional dismantled a network selling fake addresses in the register for up to 600 euros, resulting in fourteen arrests. Buying such a registration is a crime too. Here is what happened, and how to arrange your padrón the right way.

What happened

The immigration brigade of the Policía Nacional in El Ejido announced the operation in early July, and the story has been doing the rounds across Spain since. Fourteen people were arrested over fictitious registrations in Roquetas de Mar, mainly in the coastal district of Aguadulce, and in the city of Almería. The investigation started by chance: during another police case, two foreign nationals declared they had paid to appear registered at an address where they had never lived. From that moment the police pulled the thread, together with the Roquetas town hall, the social security service and the Almería immigration office.

How the trade worked

The network ran on a simple division of labour. An intermediary found clients, arranged the paperwork and booked the appointments at the town hall. Two property owners then signed off on registrations of people who had never set foot across their threshold, for a fee. The clients, mostly migrants who needed the address for their residence procedure, paid up to 600 euros per registration. The intermediary and the two owners are suspected of document forgery and of facilitating irregular immigration.

Why the buyer is liable too

The striking part of this case: of the fourteen people arrested, eleven are the buyers themselves. Paying to appear at an address where you do not live makes you a party to document forgery, and that applies to everyone. Including a foreign resident who thinks he can sort his registration through a friend of a friend, because the landlord refuses to cooperate or the real address is a holiday park. The padrón also underpins your residency status, your health card and your municipal rights: put a fake address underneath, and everything built on top of it starts to wobble.

How to arrange your padrón properly

The legitimate route is thankfully straightforward. You register at the town hall of your actual home address, with your passport or NIE, plus proof that you live there: the title deed, your rental contract or a consent form from the owner. The registration itself is free or costs a few euros in fees at most, and tenants are simply entitled to it; an obstructive landlord is a reason to ask the town hall for advice, not to buy an address. Letting out property yourself and being offered money to register strangers? Do not: that is exactly what put two owners among the suspects. Want your paperwork in order? Read our guide to living and working on the Costa Blanca too.

About the authorLeonie

Leonie lives on the Costa Blanca. She writes about daily life on the coast: the markets, the walks and everything you only discover once you actually live here.