UK tourists heading to Spain have been issued a fresh warning over lost or stolen passports. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office told holidaymakers: “If your passport is lost or stolen, you must renew your passport or apply for an emergency travel document.
“You cannot use a police report to leave Spain.” Holidaymakers heading to Spain’s mainland and the likes of the Canary Islands and Balearic Islands can renew their passport via GOV.UK, which costs £88.50. They will need a digital photo, credit or debit card, and their passport.
The Foreign Office added: “You will need two new and identical printed photos of yourself.” It also said: “An emergency travel document lets you travel from abroad if you need to travel urgently and cannot use your UK passport. It is usually only valid for one single or return journey. You can travel through a maximum of five countries.”
READ MORE Parents getting six payments and discounts worth £7,732 before end of May
The FCDO said: “You can apply for an emergency travel document if all the following apply: you’re a British national, you’re outside the UK, you need to travel within six weeks, your UK passport has been lost, stolen, damaged, is full, has recently expired or is with HM Passport Office or a foreign embassy, you cannot renew or replace your UK passport from abroad before you travel, and you have had a valid UK passport in the last 10 years.”
“You might be able to get an emergency travel document if all the following apply: you have, or are eligible for, British nationality, you’re outside the UK, you need to travel within six weeks, and you have an urgent and unplanned reason to travel due to exceptional circumstances,” it explained.
“Exceptional circumstances may include if your child was born unexpectedly, you need urgent medical treatment that you cannot access without travel to another country, or you wish to attend the funeral of a close relative.
“If you have never held a UK passport, or not held one in the last 10 years, you cannot get emergency travel documents for activities such as holidays, weddings, family events and job interviews. You’ll have to explain and provide evidence to show why your journey is urgent and essential. Applications are assessed on a case by case basis.”