Schengen short stay visa to visit Spain (tourism and business)

The Schengen type C visa is a short stay authorisation that lets you enter and move around the Schengen area (Spain and the other States that make it up) for a maximum of 90 days within any 180 day period. It is governed by Regulation (EC) 810/2009 (the Visa Code).

It is for visits that do not involve gainful activity: tourism, business trips (meetings, trade fairs, signing contracts), visits to relatives or friends, medical treatment, or short courses and activities. It does not authorise you to work as an employee or to live in Spain on a settled basis: for that you need a national type D visa.

The 90 day count is cumulative across the whole Schengen area, not just Spain. Every day you spend in any Schengen country counts inside that rolling 180 day window.

Nationals of third countries subject to the visa requirement under Regulation (EU) 2018/1806 need a Schengen visa. Nationals of exempt countries (for example, many Latin American countries for tourist stays) do not need a type C visa, although once ETIAS is up and running they will have to obtain the corresponding electronic authorisation before travelling.

As a general rule the application is filed at the Spanish consulate or embassy (or at the authorised visa centre) of the country where you legally reside. If the trip covers several Schengen countries, the application goes to the consulate of the main destination (where you will spend the most days). If the stay is split equally, it goes to the country of first entry.

The purpose of the trip must be genuine and consistent with the documents you provide, and you must show that you intend to return before the visa expires.

The basic paperwork is the same for every applicant: the harmonised application form, completed and signed; a valid passport (valid for at least 3 months beyond your intended date of departure, issued within the last 10 years and with 2 blank pages); and 2 recent passport-style photographs, in colour and on a light background.

On top of that you need travel medical insurance with minimum cover of €30,000, valid throughout the Schengen area, covering emergency medical care, hospital treatment and repatriation on medical grounds or in the event of death for the whole of your stay.

You also have to show sufficient funds for the trip, your accommodation (a hotel booking or a letter of invitation from a private individual processed at the Comisaría de Policía, the national police station), your return ticket or itinerary, and evidence of the purpose of the trip (a tourist booking, a company letter for business, and so on). Managora reviews every document and puts the full file together to reduce the risk of refusal.

The standard consular tasa (official fee) for the visa is €90 for applicants aged 12 or over, and €45 for children aged 6 and over but under 12; children under 6 are exempt. This fee is set by European law and is not refunded if the visa is refused. You can see Managora's price for the service on the service page.

The legal decision period is 15 calendar days from the date the application is filed. That period can be extended to a maximum of 45 calendar days when the consulate needs to examine additional documents or hold a personal interview.

Unless they were already taken in the last 59 months, you will have to attend the consulate in person so your biometric data can be captured (all 10 fingerprints and a digital photograph), which is kept for 59 months in the Visa Information System (VIS). Children under 12 do not have to give fingerprints.

If the application is refused, the consulate notifies the reason in writing using a standard form. You have 2 ways to react: file a recurso de reposición (an administrative appeal to the same body) with the consulate that issued the refusal, within 1 month of the notification, or go straight to a recurso contencioso-administrativo (a judicial review appeal) before the Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Madrid (the High Court of Justice of Madrid), within 2 months.

Before appealing it is worth pinning down the exact reason (insufficient funds, doubts about the purpose of the trip or about your return, insurance that does not meet the requirements, incomplete paperwork) so that you can rebut it with evidence. In many cases it is more effective to correct the file and apply again than to press on with the same appeal.

Managora analyses the refusal decision, identifies the reason and prepares the appeal or a stronger new application for you.

The Entry/Exit System (EES) has been running since October 2025. It electronically records entries, exits and biometric data of third country nationals at the external borders of the Schengen area, and is gradually replacing manual passport stamping. This does not change the type C visa, but it does digitise the way the 90 days are tracked.

ETIAS, the electronic travel authorisation, is expected to come into operation during 2026. ETIAS affects travellers from visa exempt countries, not people who need a Schengen type C visa. If you need a visa, you will carry on applying at the consulate as you do now.

Visa fees are reviewed periodically under the Visa Code. The current amount of €90 has applied since 11 June 2024.