Taking Your Dog From the UK to Spain: Driving, the Ferry, Papers and the Heat

Spain is further than France and hotter than France, and those two facts shape the whole trip. The paperwork is the same as for anywhere else in the EU, and most British owners find it straightforward. What takes real thought is how to get there, because there are three quite different ways of doing it, and how to keep a British dog well in a climate and among parasites it has never met. This guide covers the documents, the routes, Spain's rules on certain breeds, and what to do about the heat when you arrive, using the rules as they stood in the autumn of 2026.

The Trip in Brief

Your dog needs a microchip, a rabies vaccination at least 21 days old, and an animal health certificate issued by an official vet within ten days of entering the EU. You then drive through France, sail direct to northern Spain, or fly the dog as cargo. Before you return to Britain, a vet must give your dog a tapeworm treatment between one and five days before you arrive. If your dog is already chipped and vaccinated, the paperwork takes a couple of weeks. The planning of the journey itself deserves longer, particularly if you want a cabin on the ferry in summer.

The Paperwork

A British pet passport is not valid for entering the EU. Your dog travels on an animal health certificate, and you need a new one for every trip. The microchip must be in place before the rabies vaccination, the dog must be at least 12 weeks old when vaccinated, and you must then wait at least 21 full days. The certificate is issued by an official vet within ten days of your entry to the EU, and it is then valid for six months for travel between EU countries and for your return to Britain. Our guide to dog passports, health certificates and microchips explains each document.

That six month validity matters for Spain. If you drive through France, your certificate is checked where you first enter the EU, at Calais or a French ferry port, and it then covers you across the border into Spain, where there is no further check. If you arrive direct from Britain by sea or air, Spain's agriculture ministry requires pets to come in through one of its authorised travellers' points of entry, where the dog is declared and its papers examined. The ferry ports of the north coast and the main airports are on the list, but confirm that yours is before you book.

Restricted Breeds

Spain does not ban any breed, but it regulates eight of them closely, and British owners are often caught unawares. Under the royal decree on potentially dangerous dogs, the Pit Bull Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, Rottweiler, Dogo Argentino, Fila Brasileiro, Tosa Inu and Akita Inu, and their crosses, must be muzzled in public and kept on a short lead that does not extend. Their keepers need a licence and liability insurance, and only one such dog may be walked by each person.

The Staffordshire Bull Terrier is one of the most popular family dogs in Britain, so this rule affects a great many ordinary holidaymakers. If your dog is on the list, take a muzzle it is used to wearing and proof of your insurance, and ask the Spanish consulate what a visitor is expected to carry. Our guide to banned and restricted breeds by country sets out the Spanish list beside those of France, which you will drive through, and Portugal. Remember that France has rules of its own and that you must satisfy both.

Three Ways to Get There

The first way is to drive through France. You cross the Channel by tunnel or ferry and drive south, which takes most people two days with an overnight stop or two on the way. The dog is with you throughout, you can stop whenever it needs a break, and the sea crossing is short. It is the gentlest route for the dog and the most tiring for the driver. Book the overnight hotels in advance and confirm that each one takes dogs, because finding a room with a dog at nine in the evening on a French motorway is no fun. Our guide to driving with your dog covers restraint, breaks and heat on a long journey.

The second way is to sail direct. Brittany Ferries sails from Portsmouth and Plymouth to Santander and Bilbao, which saves the drive through France. The crossing is long, so where your dog spends it is everything. The company offers cabins where the dog stays with you, and kennels, and on three of its ships, the Pont-Aven, Galicia and Salamanca, you can go to your dog's kennel whenever you wish. These places are limited and sell out months ahead for summer. The dog must be muzzled and on a lead whenever it is outside the cabin or kennel, and the company does not take pets with foot passengers. Do not take this route if the only option left is the car deck, because a dog cannot be left alone in a vehicle for a crossing of that length.

The third way is to fly, and for a holiday it is a poor choice for most dogs. A small dog may be able to travel in the cabin on the way out with an airline that allows it, but on the way home every dog entering Great Britain by air must travel as cargo, whatever its size. That means a crate in the hold, a cargo terminal at each end and a considerable bill. Our guide to flying a dog in the hold explains what is involved, and for anything short of a move to Spain, driving or sailing is kinder.

Getting About in Spain

Spain's trains have opened up to dogs in a way that would have been unthinkable a few years ago. Renfe carries small pets of up to 10 kg in a carrier. It now also takes dogs of up to 40 kg without a carrier on its high speed and long distance trains for a 40 euro supplement, with a muzzle for boarding and a short lead on board. Only two large dogs are carried on each train, so book ahead, and dogs classed as potentially dangerous are not accepted. Our guide to dogs on trains has the details.

Eating out is easier than it used to be as well. Spain's animal welfare law of 2023 says that restaurants and bars may admit pets, and that a place which does not admit them must display a sign that can be seen from outside, so look at the door before you ask. In practice the terrace is where most Spanish life happens anyway, and a dog is welcome on almost all of them. Beaches are decided town by town. Many resorts keep dogs off the main beaches in summer and set aside a dog beach instead, so check the town hall's website for where you are staying, and read our guide to dog friendly beaches.

Heat

A British dog is not used to a Spanish summer. In July and August much of the country is too hot for a dog in the middle of the day, and a walk at noon that would be pleasant at home can be dangerous in Andalusia. Walk at dawn and after sunset, stay somewhere with air conditioning or thick walls and tiled floors, carry water everywhere, and never leave the dog in the car, even for a few minutes. If you can choose your dates, go in spring or autumn, when Spain is a pleasure for dogs and their owners alike.

The drive down needs the same care. Travel in the early morning, keep the car cool, and stop often for water and shade. Our guide to heat and your dog on holiday explains how to judge the temperature, what the early signs of heatstroke are, and what to do in the first few minutes if your dog overheats. Read it before any summer trip to the south.

Parasites

This is the part most owners do not know about, and it matters as much as the heat. Spain has diseases that Britain does not. The European vets' federation lists Spain among the countries where leishmaniosis is established. It is spread by sandflies that bite from dusk, and it can take months or even years to show itself. Heartworm, spread by mosquitoes, is present too, along with tick diseases that your dog's usual treatment may not prevent.

See your vet at least a month before you go and say exactly where in Spain you will be, because protection has to be started before you arrive and no single product covers everything. While you are there, keep your dog indoors from dusk to dawn in sandfly season and check it for ticks every evening. When you get home, tell your vet where the dog has been if it is ever unwell in the following year. Our guide to the illnesses dogs can pick up abroad explains each disease and how it is prevented.

The Trip Home

To re enter Great Britain your dog needs a tapeworm treatment from a vet, given no less than 24 hours and no more than 120 hours before you arrive, and written into the certificate. If you are driving back through France, you can have it done in Spain before you set off, provided you reach Britain within five days, or in France on the way north. If you are sailing from Santander or Bilbao, have it done in Spain and count the hours to your arrival in Portsmouth or Plymouth, not to your departure, because the crossing itself uses up a good part of the window. Book the vet before you leave home.

A Closing Thought

Spain asks more of a British dog than France does, mostly because of the distance and the sun. Choose your season, choose your route for the dog and not for the price, sort out the parasite protection a month ahead, and book the tapeworm appointment before you go. Do that and Spain repays the effort with long walks at dawn, a cool tiled floor at noon, and supper outside at ten with the dog asleep under your chair.