Spain Passport & Visa Photos

Spanish passport photos use a 26×32mm print on a white background, with the full face visible and a light, even exposure. The size is smaller than the common European 35×45mm, so a standard photo booth print will not fit.

The Spanish document page below carries the exact size, background and framing rules with the official source cited. The studio cuts your photo to the 26×32mm format.

Photo sizes for passport and visa

Spain uses two photo formats. The passport photo is a 26×32 mm portrait, the same shape as the DNI photo. The visa photo follows the Schengen 35×45 mm rectangle. The official passport page lists the size height first, 32 by 26.

Background and light requirements

The visa checklist asks for a light background and the head filling between 70 and 80 per cent of the frame. White explicitly satisfies the rule. The passport side names its background colour and posture requirements and publishes no head band.

Photo freshness and retouching

Spanish freshness is written as one word, reciente, with no month count attached. In practice a photo that still looks like you is required; retouched files are named unacceptable on the passport route.

Mismatched photo sizes

A 35×45 mm print offered for the 26×32 mm passport slot, or the small DNI-shaped photo brought to a visa counter, fails on size.

Background failures

Dark walls, shadows and gradients fail the light-background rule on the visa route. Off-white paint fails the passport background requirement.

Retouching and photo age

Smoothed skin, corrected tones, and a photo that no longer resembles the applicant are caught by the retouching clause and the freshness word.