Spain Passport Photo Size — No Official Print Size

You bring a printed photo. Spain passport photo rules read off the issuing authority's own page, checked 2026-08-27.

You bring a printed photo.

You bring printed photos. Spain does not publish one central photo specification — the consulates that do publish figures do not agree with each other.

What gets a Spain photo rejected

This authority publishes in Spanish. Where we have the original wording we quote it; the rest is our English rendering of the same page. These are the reasons applications actually come back — more often than a wrong measurement.

Dark-lensed glasses, or any garment that prevents identification
A half-profile, or eyes looking down or (partly) closed
Reflections on the lenses of glasses, or thick or novelty frames
A hat, cap or ornament covering the head
Hair over the face, including the eyebrows
Printed on ordinary paper rather than photographic paper
For infants: any part of the person holding the child, including their hands, visible in the frame

How Spain compares, one rule at a time

Each page below takes a single rule and shows what every authority writes about it, in their own words. This is where Spain lands on each.

Can you wear glasses in a passport photo? — Allowed, with conditions
Can you wear a head covering in a passport photo? — Not allowed
Can you wear jewellery or makeup in a passport photo? — Only part of it is written down
How old can a passport photo be? — Not stated

Which route applies to you

Ordinary route

You bring a printed photo.

You bring printed photos. Spain does not publish one central photo specification — the consulates that do publish figures do not agree with each other.

Print size	No official specification
Photos required	No official specification
Head height	50 % of photo areadoes not follow the ICAO 70–80% rule
Eye line	No official specification
Background	white, plain and uniform, with no shadows
Resolution	No official specification
Digital file	No official specification

Can you just use the ICAO standard?

No. The rule is stated as 50% of the photo AREA, not its height. Reading it as a height ratio gives a plausible-looking number that no regulation supports — the two cannot be converted.

The 70–80% figure comes from one paragraph of ICAO Doc 9303 Part 3, and it is measured against the passport page rather than your print — what Doc 9303 actually says, quoted in full.

Where official sources disagree

These are not errors on our side. Both pages below are official, and they say different things.

Print size

32 x 26 mm — Consulate General of Spain in Mexico (www.exteriores.gob.es)
30 to 40 mm wide, with a proportional height of 40 to 53 mm — Consulate General of Spain in Düsseldorf (PDF, updated 2017-05-29) (www.exteriores.gob.es)

Sources and what we could not verify

Pasaportes - Requisitos y procedimiento para obtenerlo (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Consulate General in Mexico) www.exteriores.gob.es checked 2026-08-27

also: www.exteriores.gob.es

not verified: a central government photo specification · which of the two consular figures applies at a passport office in Spain · the number of photos required · print resolution · the eye line

Questions people actually ask

Do I need to bring a photo for a Spain passport application?

Yes. You bring a printed photo. You bring printed photos. Spain does not publish one central photo specification — the consulates that do publish figures do not agree with each other.

What size is a Spain passport photo?

There is no official print size. We checked the government source and found none — any millimetre figure you see elsewhere is not from the authority.

What background colour is required?

white, plain and uniform, with no shadows

Why do official pages give different answers?

They genuinely disagree. On print size: Consulate General of Spain in Mexico says “32 x 26 mm”; Consulate General of Spain in Düsseldorf (PDF, updated 2017-05-29) says “30 to 40 mm wide, with a proportional height of 40 to 53 mm”. We show both rather than picking one.