Welcome to my step-by-step guide how to register your baby in Mallorca as a resident!

First of all, congratulations on your Mallorca baby! With the new family member come some bureaucratic things to take care of in the first weeks. I found it pretty confusing to figure out how to register our baby in Mallorca when we had our first child. I’d like to ease the process for you by sharing the steps in a little guide.

I recommend you collecting all documents and some printed copies each in a folder which you take with you everywhere you want to apply for something for the child: libro de familia, the baby’s birth certificate and passport, the parent’s IDs and green residence cards (tarjeta de residencia).

If possible, do the following steps together as parents because sometimes this might even be obligatory.

1. Documents which the hospital in Mallorca provides you with

• Informe médico de maternidad (maternity medical report, a yellow form)
• Boletín estadístico (statistical bulletin, red or blue form depending on the autonomous community)
• Informe de alta (hospital discharge report)

You’ll have to take these documents to the registry office (see next step). The hospital fills in the data relating to the birth (time of birth, etc.) and you have to do the rest. Complete the forms calmly before you go there as they are a bit long.

2. Register your Mallorca baby at the civil registry (registro civil)

The baby must be registered at the Registro Civil in Mallorca. Here you will get the libro de familia (family book) if you don’t already have one. You will also get a Spanish and an international birth certificate (certificado literal de nacimiento). There are two offices in Palma, one in Inca and one in Manacor.

BY APPOINTMENT ONLY! Click here to book an appointment.

Documents to bring:

• IDs of father and mother
• Libro de familia in case you already have one (should be the case if you got married in Spain or have children already born in Spain)
• Informe médico de maternidad (yellow form from the hospital)
• Boletín estadístico (red or blue form from the hospital)
• Separation or divorce decree (if one of the parents was previously married)

3. Registration of the newborn in the municipal register

In Mallorca the baby must be registered in the municipal register of the city council where he/she will live. This is done in the town hall, NO APPOINTMENT NECESSARY.

Documents to bring for registering your baby in Mallorca:

• IDs of father or mother
• Libro de Familia

Ask for three copies of the following document that you will need in the following steps: Certificado de empadronamiento del bebé (€1.30).

4. Request a certificate at the mother’s employer

(This does not have to be done if you’re self-employed.)

Maternity leave works in a similar way to sick leave: the company pays the salary for the first two days and the rest (up to 16 weeks) is covered by the social security. That is why it is necessary for the employee to prepare a certificate stating how much the mother is paid.

It is possible to spend the days of maternity leave as a half day instead of a full day and to split the leave into separate weeks. In case you would like to take a few days off before the birth of your child they will be subtracted from the 16 weeks.

At the end of your maternity leave you have the right of one hour breastfeeding leave daily for 20 weeks. If you do not want to use this hour daily you have the possibility to accumulate the hours in full days and take them in a certain period agreed with your company. The total accumulated amount would be 15 working days in total which I took immediately after my maternity leave.

5. Request a certificate from the father’s employer

(This does not have to be done if you’re self-employed.)

Paternity leave works in exactly the same way as maternity leave: the company pays the salary for the first two days and the rest (up to 16 weeks) is covered by the Social Security. That is why it is necessary for the employee to prepare a certificate stating how much the father is paid. It is possible to spend the leave days as a half day instead of a full day and to split the leave into separate weeks.

6. Apply for the baby’s passport at the embassy

To apply for a passport you need to schedule an appointment at the embassy. Please check with your embassy which documents are required since this might be different for different nationalities.

7. Formalities at the Seguridad Social (Social Security)

There are three procedures to complete at the Instituto Nacional de la Seguridad Social (INSS): maternity benefit, paternity benefit and affiliation of the baby (the last can be done later as soon as you have the baby’s passport and tarjeta residencia). I recommend doing this online in case you have online access to your seguridad social.

BY APPOINTMENT ONLY. It is important that you book three appointments for the three procedures you need to complete here.

Documents to bring for maternity benefit:

• Mother’s ID and tarjeta residencia (green resident card)
• Libro de Familia
• Baby’s certificado de empadronamiento (see previous step)
• If you are an employee the certificate from the mother’s employer (obtained in a previous step), if self-employed the last three receipts for self-employment payments
• Form “Prestación de maternidad-paternidad” (Application for maternity/paternity, adoption or foster care)
• Form “Modelo 145” with the mother’s details

Documents to bring for paternity benefit:

• Father’s ID and tarjeta residencia (green resident card)
• Libro de familia
• Baby’s certificado de empadronamiento (see previous step)
• If you are an employee, the certificate from the father’s employer (obtained in a previous step), if self-employed the last 3 receipts for self-employment payments
• Form “Prestación de maternidad-paternidad” (Application for maternity/paternity, adoption or foster care)
• Form “Modelo 145” with the father’s details.

Documents to bring to include the child in your seguridad social

• Libro de familia
• Form of affiliation of the baby as a beneficiary of the Social Security (here’s the link).
• Tarjeta residencia
• Baby’s passport

Since you need the baby’s passport and tarjeta residencia here you might need to do this at a later stage.

8. Apply for the baby’s NIE number and the registration certificate

As soon as you have the baby’s passport you can apply for the baby’s NIE (Número de Identidad de Extranjero) and the registration certificate (Certificado de registro de ciudano de la unión, colloquially known as tarjeta residencia) at the Oficina de Extranjería in Palma.

Find more detailed information about this step in my blog article How to apply for a NIE number and the registration certificate in Mallorca.

9. Apply for the baby’s health card (tarjeta sanitaria)

It is necessary to go to the centro de salud (public health centre) where you will have your regular check-ups with the pediatrician. This can be done as soon as the child is included in your seguridad social. No worries, the baby is covered with your insurance before and you can visit the pediatrician at any time.

BY APPOINTMENT ONLY. Call your centro de salud for making an appointment.

Documents to bring:

• Libro de familia
• Certificado de empadronamiento
• Baby’s passport
• Passport photo of the baby for the health card

In case you would like to register the child with a private health insurance company (see next step) and have the check-ups with a pediatrician of the private health insurance company the public health card is not absolutely necessary.

10. Include the baby in a private health insurance

In order to obtain better health care a lot of Mallorca residents have a private health insurance. If you already have private insurance you might want to include your child as well. The insurance company usually only needs the baby’s name, date of birth, place of birth, height and weight.

11. Apply for tax deductions

The “Deducción por madre trabajadora” is a monthly allowance of €100 for working mothers only. It is paid monthly until the child reaches the age of three. You can apply for it online or at an office of the Agencia Tributaria (AEAT).

Documents to bring with you:

• Mother’s NIE and ID
• Libro de familia
• Mother’s national insurance number (Número de afiliación a la Seguridad Social )
• Number of the bank account where you want to receive the aid
• Form “Modelo 140” (fill in online here)

It is only necessary to apply for the first year, the rest of the years it is automatically renewed. The payment of the allowance starts immediately the following month (not if you are not working due to maternity leave).

I hope that my guide “How to register your newborn baby in Mallorca” will make the process of registering your child in Mallorca easier for you. If any information is out of date, please let me know so that I can update the article.