Correos Spain: Getting Your Mailbox and Mail Forwarding Right
Correos Spain mail forwarding only works if your new address has a compliant mailbox waiting for it – without one, even the most reliable Reenvío Postal service delivers into a void. When you move, you have to sort both at once: the forwarding order with Correos and the right mailbox for your new home.
The Essentials
Correos Spain: Mailboxes and Mail Forwarding – What Reenvío Postal Actually Does
If you’re moving within Spain or arriving from abroad, you already know the problem: bills, letters from the Seguridad Social, and parcels keep showing up at your old address for weeks. That’s exactly why Correos built the Reenvío Postal – a forwarding service that Sociedad Estatal Correos y Telégrafos S.A. runs as a commercial product, not a government procedure. You choose when the forwarding starts and how long it runs, and Correos takes care of the rest – ordinary letters as well as registered mail.
Not a government process, but a Correos product
If you’re moving within Spain or arriving from abroad – often with help from a removals company – you know the risk: mail keeps piling up at your old rental property long after you’ve moved out. Reenvío Postal closes exactly that gap. For private customers you can choose 1 month, 2 months, 3 months, 6 months, or 12 months; business customers can only choose 1 month, 2 months, or 6 months – 3 months and 12 months aren’t offered to them. Because this is a commercial product rather than an administrative procedure, there’s no Modelo 790 and no appointment booking system – just a straightforward purchase: fill in the form, show ID, pay.
- Your old and new address, plus the period you want covered, are decided before you book.
- A valid ID document (TIE card plus passport for non-EU nationals) is ready as a copy.
- A payment method such as a bank card or PayPal is available for the online or in-branch booking.
Starter Kit: Never Lose a Piece of Mail Again
Our free Expat Starter Kit walks you through the first few weeks in Spain – including a checklist for registering your address, setting up your mailbox, and handling paperwork. You get the 7 most important steps as a compact PDF, tailored to exactly the situation you’re in right now: moving house, with all the mail and admin that comes with it.
No spam, unsubscribe anytime. You’ll also get the key price and deadline updates for Andalusia straight to your inbox.
Applying for Reenvío Postal: The Step-by-Step Guide
Whether you’d rather set up Reenvío Postal from your sofa or sort it out in person at the counter is entirely up to you – Correos offers both routes on equal footing. Timing matters most: activate the service while you still have access to your old address so no gap opens up. The steps below apply whether you choose the online shop or head to an Oficina de Correos.
How Reenvío Postal Works, Step by Step
Online or in branch – two equally valid routes
The first two steps are identical either way, and only after that do the online and in-branch paths diverge. Either way, you end up with the same result: Correos forwards your mail automatically, so you don’t have to chase every single item yourself.
- Set the period and addresses: you decide the start and end date, plus your old and new address for the Reenvío Postal.
- Choose your channel: online through the Correos shop, or in person at an Oficina de Correos.
- Online route: add the product to your cart, fill in the “Solicitud de Reenvío Postal” form, upload a copy of your ID, and pay by card or PayPal.
- In-branch route: give your addresses and time period on the spot, show your ID, and sign and pay for the contract directly at the counter.
- From the contract start date, Correos automatically forwards both ordinary letters and registered mail to your new address.
- Check your new mailbox at the same time – no forwarding service helps if there’s no compliant casillero domiciliario waiting at the other end.
What You Need for Your Reenvío Postal Application
Whether you apply online or in branch, Correos won’t process your request without these details and documents. The most important are valid ID and a working payment method, since this is a paid service.
- ID document: your TIE card plus your passport, as a copy for the online application.
- The online “Solicitud de Reenvío Postal” form on the Correos shop, with all your personal details plus your old and new address.
- The in-branch form or Reenvío contract, if you’d rather complete the application in person at an Oficina de Correos.
- A payment method: a bank card or PayPal account – a Spanish current account makes reconciling the charge easier later on.
Mailboxes in Spain: The Reality Check After Moving
Even the best Reenvío Postal is useless if there’s no compliant mailbox at your new address. Since the reform under the Reglamento de los Servicios Postales, residential buildings must meet clear structural requirements. If you’re building new, renovating, or moving into an older Comunidad de Propietarios, don’t leave this to chance – postal workers are within their rights to refuse delivery to missing or incorrectly labelled boxes.
What the Reglamento de los Servicios Postales requires
Under Real Decreto 437/2024, every flat and every commercial unit needs its own mailbox (Spanish: casillero domiciliario), clearly labelled with the floor and door number. Buildings must also have a return mailbox where postal workers can leave undeliverable items. Responsibility for the physical setup lies not with Correos but with the property owner or the Comunidad de Propietarios.
Once you’re registered at your new address – ideally right after completing your padrón registration at the town hall (Ayuntamiento) – it’s worth checking your mailbox in person. If you’re giving up your old flat entirely, make sure to also deregister there, so official mail stops being expected at two addresses at once. In practice, delivery rarely fails because of Correos – it’s almost always a mailbox with no name or flat number on it.
Our Insider Tip:
If you’re planning to use Reenvío Postal, activate it the day before moving out at the latest, not after – every day of delay means mail piling up at the old address. It’s equally important to check the new mailbox before the move itself, so the name and flat number are correctly displayed from day one and nothing gets delivered into a void.
A forwarding order with Correos is only half the solution – the other half is literally mounted on the wall. If your new address doesn’t have a compliant mailbox with your name and flat number on it, forwarded mail still won’t reach you. If you’re an owner or tenant who needs to source a compliant mailbox yourself, it’s worth looking beyond what the nearest hardware store stocks.
Our recommendation: Wise account for euros and other currencies
With a Wise account, you transfer money at the real exchange rate and see the fee upfront – instead of it being buried in your bank’s markup. For deposits, down payments, or ongoing costs coming from the UK, US, or Canada, that difference adds up fast on larger amounts. (The EUR account details are Belgian, not a Spanish IBAN.)
Frequently Asked Questions
More Than Just Mail: Your Entire Move, Planned Out
The Andalusia Masterplan goes well beyond mailboxes and forwarding orders: 78 pages with 12 checklists, 3 sample families with fully worked-out budgets, and a comparison of all 8 provinces. You can preview the table of contents as a PDF before you decide.
Conclusion & Summary
A move to Spain isn’t really finished until both your Reenvío Postal with Correos is active and a compliant mailbox is mounted at your new door. Together, they stop important mail from getting lost somewhere between your old and new address. Sort both out early, and you’ll save yourself a lot of unnecessary hassle in the first few weeks.
Still Have Questions?
How did you organise your mail forwarding with Correos? Tell us about your experience in the comments!
