Valencia
Practical guide for foreigners in Valencia: padrón, immigration, healthcare, rent by district, public transportation and jobs.
Trámites esenciales
📍 Empadronamiento
The padrón is the register of a municipality’s residents and proves where you live. Everyone living in Spain must register on the padrón where they live (Law 7/1985, arts. 15 and 16). In Valencia all padrón procedures are free.
How: In person at the City Council’s Padrón Office (entrance on C/ Periodista Azzati, 2), the Tabacalera Citizen Service Office or one of the district boards, 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., with an appointment booked at valencia.es or by calling 010. It can also be done on the e-government site.
Documentos:
- Valid ID: residence card or passport
- A home or room rental contract signed by everyone, for more than six months (month-to-month renewals do not count) and showing the cadastral reference, plus the last rent receipt paid within the past two months
- For a room rental: the contract must state how many rooms the home has and which one you rent
- If you live in someone else’s home: their signed authorization, their ID and their title to the home
💡 If you are undocumented, your passport is valid. Foreign public documents (except those from the EU) must be legalized or apostilled, and those not in Spanish or Valencian need a translation by a sworn translator or any public administration. If you cannot prove your housing or have no fixed address, there is a special route for people known to Social Services: the Local Police may check that you live there and, if the owner objects, you are registered at a municipal social services center, the CAI or the CAST. Non-EU nationals without long-term residence must renew their registration every two years (Law 7/1985, art. 16.1). The City Council has up to three months to decide.
🏛️ Extranjería
Immigration Office: Calle Joaquín Ballester, 39 46009, València/Valencia (Comunitat Valenciana)
Official directory (DIR3) — read on 4 September 2026
No verified data on how long this office takes: what we had was written by a language model, not measured, and it has been withdrawn. The legal deadline for each procedure, with its article of the official gazette, is in our deadlines tool. Legal immigration deadlines →
Immigration appointments are booked on the Public Administration e-government site.
Pedir cita en extranjería →🪪 NIE / TIE
NIE (Foreigner Identity Number): your tax and ID number in Spain. TIE (Foreigner Identity Card): the physical card.
You apply for the TIE in person at the immigration office or the relevant police station, with form EX-17 and proof of payment of fee 790 code 012 (Policía Nacional). Appointments are booked on the Public Administration e-government site.
Pedir cita para TIE →Housing rental
Prices vary a lot from one district to another. The district table shows the estimated 2026 range for all 19, calculated from official data.
Valencia is not declared a stressed residential market area, so rents in new contracts have no legal cap: the parties set them freely (art. 17.1 LAU). The declaration is made by the regional government, and the Ministry of Housing publishes the list of declared areas. Official registry of the Ministry of Housing, checked on 4 September 2026.
| Price | €/mes |
|---|---|
| Cheaper end (25th percentile) | 515 € |
| Median | 681 € |
| Pricier end (75th percentile) | 899 € |
| Median floor area | 85 m² · 8,18 €/m² |
| Estimated 2026 | 560–970 € |
Monthly rent for the whole home (flats) according to the State Reference System for Rental Prices of the Spanish Ministry of Housing, based on rents declared in income tax returns by private landlords. These are contracts already signed, not listing prices: looking for a flat today you will normally pay more. Data from 2024 (65.742 declared contracts). Official SERPAVI page
Estimated figures: 2024 contracts from SERPAVI (Spanish Ministry of Housing) updated with the rent component of the CPI for the Valencian Community (INE): +4.0% in 2025 and, on top of 2025, +4.0% through August 2026. The range runs from the cheapest 25% to the priciest 25% of contracts, depending on the size, condition and amenities of the apartment. If you sign a new lease, expect to pay somewhat more: the CPI also includes older leases. CPI, INE table 76137
📈 Careful reading the median as “what I will pay”: it measures what all tenants pay, and most have been in the same contract for years. Spain’s statistics office separates the two, and in Valencia/València (2024) rents on new contracts rose 12.4% against 4.3% for existing ones. After 2024 there is no official rental statistic by municipality; the freshest official figure is the rent component of the CPI (2.6% year on year in 2026-07), which also measures the whole stock, not asking prices. If you are signing now, expect to pay above these figures.
Rent by district
| District | Estimated 2026 (€/month) | 2024 contracts (official) |
|---|---|---|
| Pobles del Nord * | 400–790 € | 371–731 € |
| Pobles de l'Oest | 430–700 € | 400–650 € |
| Pobles del Sud | 440–730 € | 410–670 € |
| Rascanya | 490–830 € | 450–763 € |
| l'Olivereta | 490–800 € | 457–740 € |
| Jesus | 510–810 € | 476–748 € |
| Benicalap | 500–860 € | 465–796 € |
| Patraix | 540–830 € | 500–770 € |
| La Saïdia | 540–870 € | 500–800 € |
| Poblats Maritims | 540–900 € | 500–832 € |
| Quatre Carreres | 560–970 € | 515–897 € |
| Benimaclet | 610–970 € | 560–900 € |
| Camins al Grau | 600–1050 € | 550–967 € |
| Campanar | 600–1050 € | 550–975 € |
| Extramurs | 630–1020 € | 583–943 € |
| Ciutat Vella | 670–1170 € | 620–1082 € |
| Algirós | 660–1110 € | 612–1025 € |
| l'Eixample | 680–1240 € | 633–1145 € |
| El Pla del Real | 710–1190 € | 655–1100 € |
* Fewer than 500 contracts in the source: less reliable range.
Public transport
Red: Metro Valencia + tram + EMT buses (municipal bus company) + Cercanías Renfe (Renfe commuter rail)
Price with the 40% reduction (Consell Decree-Law 6/2026). Youth with Carnet Jove (ages 15–30): €14.90.
⏳ Reduction in force until December 31, 2026; without it, €35.00.
Official fare — read on the official source on 26 September 2026: «SUMA Mensual 35,00 € –> 21,00 €»
The metropolitan transport authority’s SUMA tickets are valid on Metrovalencia, EMT buses, MetroBus and Cercanías commuter trains (Metrovalencia).
Educación
Free public education. Valencian and Spanish are both official, and regional law sets how each language is used in schools (Statute of Autonomy, art. 6).
State homologation at the Ministerio de Educación (Ministry of Education).
Homologar títulos →Sanidad
Sistema: Conselleria de Sanitat Universal - GVA (Regional Ministry of Universal Health - Valencian Government)
Registering on the padrón is not enough to get a health card. If you work, receive a pension or a benefit, or live in Spain legally, the National Social Security Institute (INSS) first recognizes your entitlement and then you request the card at your health center (Law 16/2003, arts. 3 and 3 bis). If you are undocumented, you do not get a card but the document issued by your region’s health department: ask at your health center how to apply.
Primary care, specialists, emergency care, free hospitalization.
💡 Undocumented people are also entitled to public healthcare, on the same terms as Spanish nationals, if they have no other mandatory coverage, cannot export coverage from their home country and no third party is liable to pay (Law 16/2003, art. 3 ter). Each region sets the procedure and the documents required.
Jobs
Valencia Activa — Municipal employment service of Valencia City Council
More information →LABORA, the Valencian employment service
- Registering as a job seeker at your Espai Labora
- Appointments on the Generalitat e-government site or by calling 012
You can register if you live in the Valencian Community and are at least 16; non-EU nationals need access to the labor market: a work authorization or, if legally in Spain, meeting the conditions to obtain one (Generalitat Valenciana).
Official page →