Issuing authority and document: Consent to transport a body abroad is given by Sanidad Exterior (the Spanish Ministry of Health) through the SISAEX system. The Polish certificate is issued by the Polish consulate in Madrid or Barcelona.
Transport: By a specialised vehicle for carrying bodies, or by plane. We agree the route and the handover place in Poland with the family.
Timing: We confirm the timing once we have the documents. The Polish Act provides that the starosta (district head) and the consul issue their documents at the latest within 3 days of the application (Article 14(5) of the Act on Cemeteries and Burial of the Dead); in practice time is also needed for the sanepid's opinion and delivering the originals, and the time needed to deal with matters in the country of death depends on the authorities there.
Price: We will quote the price once we know the details.

The procedure in Spain

Spain is a party to the Strasbourg Agreement on the Transfer of Corpses. According to the Spanish Ministry of Health, a body taken abroad must be embalmed or temporarily preserved and placed in a coffin suitable for international transport.

The transport of ashes is not subject to sanitary requirements in Spain; a container bearing the deceased's name is needed.

The civil register in Spain, and Madrid or Barcelona

In Spain a death is registered with the Registro Civil, and this cannot be done without a medical death certificate. Only after registration does the office issue the permit for burial or cremation. Registration is to be initiated by the hospital or clinic, by the doctor who certifies the death outside a facility, or by the family or a person they authorise.

The Polish certificate is issued by the Consular Department in Madrid or the Consulate General in Barcelona. Madrid serves, among others, Andalusia, Galicia, the Basque Country, the Community of Madrid and the Canary Islands, while Barcelona serves Catalonia, Aragon, Valencia and the Balearic Islands. For postal submissions the consulate asks first for scans by email and for originals only after it confirms they are correct. We keep to that order so documents do not travel needlessly. Under the Spanish civil register law, a death is registered on the day the documents are submitted, provided nothing stands in the way.

Documents for the Polish consulate

The Polish consulate in Spain requires the starosta's permit, the death certificate, the certificate of embalming or of cremation (in Spanish) and a certificate from the funeral home that the coffin or urn is securely sealed.

On the Polish side two documents are always needed: a permit from the starosta (district head) responsible for the place of burial, and then a certificate from the Polish consul, issued on the basis of that permit and the death certificate (Article 14(4) of the Act on Cemeteries and Burial of the Dead). The same documents are needed for an urn with ashes.

Frequently asked questions

Is embalming mandatory in Spain?

Yes, according to the Spanish Ministry of Health, a body taken abroad must be embalmed or temporarily preserved.

How do I transport an urn from Spain?

The Spanish side sets no sanitary requirements for ashes; a container bearing the deceased's name is needed. In Poland the starosta's permit and the consul's certificate are needed, and the consulate requires a cremation certificate.

How long does it take to bring a body home from Spain?

We confirm the timing once we have the documents. The Act provides that the starosta and the consul issue their documents at the latest within 3 days of the application (Article 14(5) of the Act on Cemeteries and Burial of the Dead); in practice time is also needed for the sanepid's opinion, delivering the originals, formalities in the country of death and the transport itself.

Other countries

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Repatriation of a Body from Spain to Poland