Spain Passport Photo Size — No Official Print Size

You bring a printed photo. Spain passport photo rules taken from the government source, with the date we checked it.

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

Every line below is the authority's own wording. 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

Compare one rule across every country → glasses

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.

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.