Bringing your pets to Spain
You'll be pleased to know that Felix and Rover are just as welcome in Spain as their owners.
Thanks to The Pet Travel Scheme (PETS), cats and dogs resident in the UK are allowed to visit
Spain and return to the UK, without quarantine, provided that certain conditions are met.
There's quite a lot of preparation to do so it's best to discuss your plans with your vet as early
as possible and allow at least seven months before your departure date. Also remember that only
certain sea, air and rail routes are included in the scheme and you should check with the operator
before booking.
Conditions of the scheme
All cats and dogs must be:
Fitted with a microchip that meets an ISO specification so that it can be read by a standard
microchip reader.
Vaccinated against rabies with an approved vaccine and have booster vaccinations as recommended.
Pets must be at least three months old and be fitted with a microchip before they can be vaccinated.
Blood tested about 30 days after vaccination. If your pet fails the blood test it will have to
be vaccinated and tested again.
Wait at least six months after a successful blood test result before being allowed entry or re-entry
into the UK (unless your pet was resident in the UK and microchipped, vaccinated and blood tested
before 28th February 2000).
The documents you'll need:
Export Health Certificate issued in the UK this is in addition to the PETS scheme documents.
The PETS re-entry certificate issued by a vet in the UK, certifying that the above conditions have
been met before you travel.
An official Certificate of Treatment against a potentially dangerous type of tapeworm and ticks,
which must be carried out by a vet between 24 and 48 hours before re-entering the UK. This treatment
has to be done each time you enter the UK.
The Declaration of Residence which you will be asked to complete to declare that your pet has not been
outside any of the qualifying countries in the six months before entering the UK.
See: www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/quarantine/index.htm
The costs
You can get a pet passport and all the relevant paperwork from your local vet.
The costs are about 200 (25 for identity chip; 58 for rabies vaccination; 94 for
blood test and 23 for health certificate).
Useful contacts
For more information, call the PETS Helpline on +44 (0)870 241 1710