Bringing a Pet to Spain

Immigrating to another country is challenging – there are so many documents and deadlines to keep track of; it’s not an easy thing! Immigrating with a pet? A whole other challenge, but with just a bit of planning, organization, and forethought, you AND your pet will be enjoying life in Spain together! I’m going to share our story of how we (eventually!) were successfully able to bring our cat to live with us in Spain so you can avoid some pitfalls and leave no one behind!

Our family moved to Sevilla in July, 2023. We had two cats at home whom we were planning to bring with us, but I quickly learned that that would not be possible with the travel arrangements we needed to make. Why? We had to fly American (we were flying out of Charlotte, an American hub, with frequent flier miles so we didn’t have a choice). American does not allow animals in the cabin for transatlantic flights. And they don’t allow animals in cargo when it is over 85 degrees F (about 30 C). Since we were flying from Charlotte to Rome in late July, you better believe it was over 85 degrees! So a dear friend offered to care for the cats until we could figure out how to get them across the ocean. During that time, we realized that the 18-year-old cat was too old to make the trip, and my mother graciously agreed to keep her for whatever time the kitty has left.

There are lots of ways to actually get an animal from the U.S. to Europe. You can fly with them yourself, either in the cabin, if allowed, or in the cargo. Some people who don’t like to fly or have larger dogs choose to sail with their pet on the Queen Mary 2. There are several transport companies, like Air Animal, that will take your pet door to door and deal with the paperwork for you. At a quoted price of $3,500 per cat, we quickly checked that off our list, but people who choose to use them seem very happy with their services. There are even private jet charters, if you want to get really fancy! With plane tickets in the off season being relatively cheap, we decided I would fly back to the U.S. and bring our remaining cat, Autumn, home with me in the cabin. United and Delta both allow animals in the cabin for transatlantic flights.

Here’s what you need to know about bringing a pet into Spain:

1. Your pet needs a current rabies vaccination, and it has to have been given more than 30 days from the date of travel. For example, if you are flying on July 1st, your pet needs to be vaccinated BEFORE the first day of June. 
2. Your pet needs an up-to-date chip with a 15-digit number. Our older cat had an older chip with only 10 digits. It’s not a big deal – if we’d decided to bring her with us, I would have bought my own chip reader to use at customs in Madrid. It’s just an extra expense and extra step.
3. Have your vet check to make sure the chip number matches what is on the rabies certificate! Ours did not, and that would have been a huge problem if it hadn’t been corrected. 
4. You need a health assessment form from an ACCREDITED vet 10 days before you travel. This list is a helpful guide, but be sure to call first! Our original vet was on the list but when I called to make an appointment, I was told they no longer did health assessments. I had to find another vet asap!
5. Make sure your vet is equipped to submit the health form ONLINE. Otherwise you need to hope that they can mail it to the USDA office in New York, that office can process your form, and then mail it back to you within the 10 days time limit! 
6. Anxiously wait and endlessly refresh the tracking site for your form once you are notified it’s been sent to you. Just kidding! Don’t do this, expect that everything is going to go fine, and you will have your form in plenty of time. BUT…
7. Have a Plan B in case you don’t. My “overnight priority” mail from FedEx got weather delayed and took five days to be delivered instead of one. Unfortunately, that meant I had to fly home without Autumn on our first attempt, but I had that same friend ready and willing to keep her as long as needed. I heard from another person who was going to be forced to drop her pets at a shelter to likely be euthanized if her forms didn’t arrive in time, so definitely have a better plan than that!
8. Finally, make sure you have all your paperwork easily accessible in your carryon bag, check to make sure the carrier you have meets your airline’s requirements, and get ready to bring your WHOLE family to Spain with you! 

This past week, Autumn and I flew from Charlotte to Newark and Newark to Madrid and then took the high speed train to Sevilla. With my papers in hand, we sailed through customs with no problems, and she is officially una gata española!

Whether you have pets or not, email us to talk about how we can get you to Spain asap!