Customs at Barcelona-El Prat: duty-free allowances, cash declaration, food, pets and the DIVA VAT refund

Where are you flying in from?

Barcelona is inside the EU customs area

Barcelona, like the rest of mainland Spain and the Balearic Islands, sits inside the EU's VAT, excise and customs area, so the ordinary EU rules apply at El Prat. What you may bring depends on where your flight started: from another EU country, goods for your own use bought with tax paid have no customs limit, while from anywhere outside the EU the non-EU allowances apply and anything over them is taxed. When you fly out, your destination's own customs rules apply as well, and they can be stricter than Spain's.

Where customs is in T1 and T2

Landing from outside the EU, you pass passport control if the flight comes from outside Schengen, collect your bags and then walk through customs on the way out of the arrivals hall. Customs has posts in the arrivals areas of T1, T2A, T2B and T2C, and one in the T1 transit area for passengers going from a non-Schengen to a Schengen flight.

From the EU, from outside the EU, from the UK or the Canary Islands

A flight from the Canary Islands lands at a domestic gate with no passport control, yet for alcohol and tobacco it counts like a flight from a non-EU country.

The €430 goods allowance from outside the EU

Arriving from outside the EU, goods in your personal baggage worth up to €430 in total enter free of import duty, VAT and excise; for children under 15 the figure is €150. Personal goods are occasional items for you or your family, or presents, that by their nature and quantity do not suggest a business. Go over the figure and the exemption is lost: duty, VAT and excise become due. Medication for your own use does not count towards it, and the figure covers only goods coming in, not the VAT refund on goods going out.

Alcohol and tobacco: how much you can bring

From outside the EU, the stronger drinks form one quota: 1 litre of spirits over 22% vol., or 1 litre of ethyl alcohol of 80% vol. or more, or 2 litres of fortified or sparkling wine. You can split it, half a litre of spirits and a litre of sparkling wine for example, as long as the shares add up to no more than the whole. Still wine and beer have allowances of their own on top; the Agencia Tributaria gives the current amounts.

The EU column shows guide quantities for goods bought with tax paid in another EU country, not duty-free limits; above them, customs may ask whether the goods are really for your own use. Bottles and cartons bought in an airport duty-free shop or on board count towards the allowance of the country where you land.

Cash: declare €10,000 or more

Entering or leaving Spain with €10,000 or more per person, or the same value in another currency, you must declare it to customs on form S1. The rule covers more than banknotes and coins: bearer cheques in any currency and any other physical or electronic medium payable to the bearer count too. It applies on every flight in or out of Spain, Schengen flights included. Moving €100,000 or more within Spain also has to be declared.

Undeclared cash can be seized, and you can be fined. On arrival, a declaration means the red channel.

Green channel or red channel

Spanish customs uses two channels for arrivals from outside the EU. Take the green channel (nothing to declare) only if everything you carry is within the allowances. Take the red channel (goods to declare) if you are over an allowance, carry restricted goods such as some foods, or have cash to declare. Walking through the green channel with more than you are allowed risks a penalty; if you are unsure, go red and ask.

Food, meat, cheese and plants

Small amounts of food for your own consumption are allowed in hand baggage, with restrictions on animal and dairy products. EU rules generally ban bringing meat, milk and products containing them into the EU from most non-EU countries; the exceptions are limited, such as infant milk and baby food or specific medical foods. Plants and other animal products are restricted too. The Agencia Tributaria and the EU publish the product lists, so check before packing ham, sausage or cheese bought outside the EU.

Medicines and valuable items

Carry the prescriptions for your medication, and for trips outside the EU ask your airline about the destination's rules on medicines and medical equipment.

If you leave Spain with a valuable item, such as a camera, a laptop or an expensive watch, and plan to bring it back, you can make a customs value declaration before you go. It records that you already owned it, so you avoid questions about import duty on the way home.

Travelling with a dog, cat or ferret

Prepare your pet's papers well before the flight. EU rules generally ask for a microchip, a valid rabies vaccination and an EU pet passport for journeys within the EU, or an animal health certificate when arriving from outside the EU; the details depend on the species and the country of origin. Aena has separate guidance for dogs, cats and ferrets, for guide and assistance dogs and for other animals.

Once you are at El Prat, there are four open-air pet areas with grass, water and a waste bin: T1 Floor 1, T1 Floor 3, T2 Floor 0 and T2 Floor 1.

VAT refund (Tax Free) with DIVA

Spain refunds VAT through its electronic DIVA system. You can claim if your habitual residence is outside the EU, or in the Canary Islands, Ceuta or Melilla, the goods are for personal use and they leave the EU within three months of the purchase. UK residents count as non-EU; residents of mainland Spain and the rest of the EU cannot claim. Ask the shop before you pay whether it issues a DIVA form for that purchase.

1. In the shop, show your passport or other proof of residence and ask for the electronic Tax Free form (DER, the DIVA form).
2. At El Prat, go to a DIVA kiosk in the check-in area of T1 or T2 before checking in your bags. Have your ID, the receipts, the form, the boarding pass and the goods with you.
3. Pick a language and scan the barcode on the form. If the screen shows it as validated, you are done.
4. If the kiosk asks for further checks, take the documents and the goods to the airport's customs or tax office; an information desk tells you where it is.
5. Claim the money from the shop or the authorised refund operator named on the form.

DIVA prints nothing: keep the CSV code on the form, which lets you check the validation on the Agencia Tributaria's website. Connecting through another EU airport, ask the shop or the refund operator where you should validate. Canary Islands residents follow their own variant, settling the IGIC first, and have up to four years to request the refund, while the goods must still leave mainland Spain within three months.

Duty-free shopping when you fly out

Barcelona Duty Free and Express Duty Free, after security in T1 and T2, charge duty-free prices only when your flight leaves the EU, the UK and Switzerland included; how prices work by destination is on the shops page.

Customs offices and help at the airport

Need a customs officer, for a declaration before you reach the exit or a DIVA form the kiosk would not validate? Ask at an Aena information desk in your terminal where the office is, or contact the Agencia Tributaria, which runs Spanish customs.