Ukrainians in Torrevieja: where to go

This guide is for people who live in Torrevieja or are moving here. It covers only local matters: what the CREADE center does, how to book appointments and register at your address, where to get a certificate, whom to ask for help and what happens with Valencian at school. The provincial offices (the point for temporary protection applications, the immigration office, the consulate) are in Alicante and are described in the guide to Alicante. The regional rules (health card, employment service, the Renta Valenciana de Inclusión benefit) are described in detail in the guide to Valencia, and the general rules on the pages of the section Ukrainians in Spain.

According to the city hall (Ayuntamiento de Torrevieja), as of 12 May 2026 the city’s padrón had 113,453 residents, of whom 10,787 were Ukrainian citizens. This is the largest foreign community in Torrevieja.

# Which offices will you need in Torrevieja?

The city itself has the CREADE center, a National Police station, the city hall department for the padrón, the Pangea service for migrants, social services and an employment office; the Oficina de Extranjería (immigration office) and the point for temporary protection applications named in the ministry’s list are in Alicante.

Hours: CREADE Mon–Fri 8:00–18:00 (booking by phone; calls are recorded); police station Mon–Fri 9:00–14:30 (according to the city hall page); Pangea Mon–Thu 9:00–13:00. The city hall does not publish the hours of Censo y Estadística. The LABORA phone number is taken from an archived 2025 copy of the Generalitat website.

The list of Tax Agency (Agencia Tributaria) offices has no office in Torrevieja; the province has, among others, Administración Orihuela (Avenida Alcalde Vicente Escudero, 2, 03300 Orihuela), but the website does not say which office serves Torrevieja. Read about taxes on our page Taxes in Spain for Ukrainians.

Addresses, phone numbers and hours were checked on 13 October 2026 against official sources. Check them again before your visit.

# How do you book an appointment in Torrevieja?

You book CREADE only by phone, the padrón through the city hall’s electronic office, and police procedures for foreign nationals through the state appointment booking portal (cita previa).

# Temporary protection and CREADE

You do not file the temporary protection application itself at CREADE Torrevieja. To apply, the Ministry of Inclusion advises contacting the local National Police station, where the procedure will be explained. In Torrevieja this is the Comisaría at C/ Arquitecto Larramendi, 3: the police directory gives phone +34 966 130 362, and the city hall website gives +34 966 92 86 36. In the list of application points for the province of Alicante, the ministry names the police in Alicante at Calle Ebanistería (Polígono de Babel), 4 y 6 (more in the guide to Alicante).

At CREADE, you book by phone at +34 96 522 47 89 for information on international and temporary protection, legal advice, career guidance and access to the state reception system (Sistema de Acogida); the ministry’s website lists Torrevieja separately in exactly this way, as “Cita Acceso al Sistema de Acogida”. The Consulate General of Ukraine in Barcelona confirms that the center gives advice in Ukrainian. Who is eligible for protection and what it gives you is explained on our page Temporary protection in Spain.

# Padrón

Since 6 March 2025, you book first registration and change of address on the padrón through the city hall’s electronic office (sede electrónica); the QR code for booking hangs on the door of the Censo y Estadística department. Without an appointment, the department serves:

• those who have received a letter about renewing their registration (citizens of non-EU countries renew it every two years);
• applications to register newborns;
• justified urgent cases;
• people who could not use the kiosk.

You can book at the electronic office without electronic identification, but to complete the procedure itself online you need a DNIe, a digital certificate, Cl@ve permanente or Cl@ve PIN (Cl@ve is the state electronic identification system). The city hall issues a digital certificate and Cl@ve free of charge at Registro/PROP, Plaza de la Constitución, 5: you can book on site (it is better to come before 9:00) or through the electronic office.

# Police

The city hall page says that for a DNI and a passport at the Torrevieja police station you book by phone or online. The city hall’s link “Cita previa para Extranjería y Policía Nacional” leads to the state appointment booking portal, which is also used to book procedures for foreign nationals. How to get a TIE card is explained on our page TIE in Spain.

# How do you register at your address (padrón) in Torrevieja?

You apply online at the electronic office or in person by appointment, with form T00020 and housing documents; a padrón certificate is issued with an NIE or passport without an appointment at Censo y Estadística. Why you need the padrón and what applies throughout the country is explained on our page Documents for living in Spain.

# What documents you need

• Your own home: a notarial deed (escritura), a recent land registry extract (nota simple) or the latest property tax (IBI) receipt.
• Rental: the full valid contract, the latest payment receipt, a copy of the owner’s DNI, the IBI receipt for 2024/25 or the escritura, and an electricity or water bill.
• For everyone: form MOD T00020 listing everyone who is registering, signed by all adults, and the documents of all these people.
• Children: the Spanish family book (Libro de Familia) and the signatures of both parents or guardians with their documents; in case of divorce, the court decision on custody.

# What to do without a rental contract

We did not find on the city hall page a separate list of documents for people who live without a contract of their own. If someone is already registered at the address, you need that person’s consent and identity document; if one of the adults files the procedure, you need the consent and documents of all the other adults.

There is also no separate registration procedure for people without housing on the city hall website. The regional law on the Renta Valenciana de Inclusión (Ley 2/2026, Art. 9.1, in force from 20 October 2026) provides that city halls help people without housing who usually live in the municipality to register on the padrón.

# What you can do online

The electronic office offers first registration, change of address, change of details, renewal of registration for citizens of non-EU countries, and removal from the register (baja) when you return to your home country (with a declaration). The forms are on the city hall website: T00020 (registration application), consent to data transfer, renewal for citizens of non-EU countries, and the declaration of return to your home country.

# How to get a padrón certificate

• Without an appointment at Censo y Estadística. With an NIE or passport, the certificate is issued at the department at C/ Unión Musical Torrevejense, 22, with minimal waiting.
• Online, with electronic identification. Certificates are generated automatically and arrive in about 15 minutes in your electronic mailbox in the city hall system (buzón electrónico). There are individual (AUT01), collective (AUT02) and historical (AUT03) certificates; only the person concerned can apply. For the collective certificate to show everyone’s names, each person on the registration must submit consent to data transfer (form EST23); changes are made in about two working days.
• The kiosk at the city hall (Ciberquiosco, Plaza de la Constitución, 5) prints certificates only with a Spanish electronic ID card (DNIe).

Certificates requested through a representative and other types of certificates (EST08, prepared manually) are issued with a delay of several weeks.

# Where can you get help in Torrevieja?

People from Ukraine are helped here by CREADE Torrevieja, the municipal Pangea service for migrants and the city hall’s social services; the round-the-clock Cruz Roja (Red Cross) line for people from Ukraine in the Comunitat Valenciana is 900 221 122.

# Pangea

The Oficina de Atención a Personas Migradas “Pangea” is part of the Concejalía de Bienestar Social. It informs and supports migrants, explains procedures for foreign nationals, prepares reports for arraigo (a residence permit based on ties to Spain) and helps with intercultural mediation. In 2025 the service received 2,160 people from 56 countries, and 72% of requests concerned arraigo. Read about arraigo on our page Arraigo in Spain. Pangea also runs group sessions on city services and taking part in city life for migrants regardless of their status (the “Pangea Integra” program; you sign up through a form on the city hall website).

# Social services

The Departamento de Servicios Sociales is at C/ Torrevejenses Ausentes, 39 (phone +34 966 706 666, [email protected]). The entry point to social services is called “Servicio de acogida y atención ante la situación de necesidad”: it provides initial reception, assesses needs and explains the assistance available. This service handles emergency cash assistance and the regional benefit Renta Valenciana de Inclusión: from 20 October 2026, holders of temporary protection need no minimum period of residence for it. The conditions and amounts are described in the guide to Valencia, and state benefits on our page Aid for Ukrainians in Spain.

# Spanish language

The Concejalía de Residentes Internacionales runs beginner and intermediate Spanish courses for foreign nationals registered on the city’s padrón; enrollment for the current course has closed. The city hall also announced the presentation of a bilingual textbook, “Manual de urgencia: español para ucranianos”, with a Ukrainian-Spanish dictionary, prepared at the Aula UNED in Torrevieja; the news item does not say where to get it.

# Work and health care

Espai LABORA Torrevieja registers job seekers, and the SEPE office at the same address (C/ Galeón, 6) deals with unemployment benefit. How to register with LABORA is described in the guide to Valencia, and the right to work on our page Work in Spain for Ukrainians. The SIP health card is issued at your health center; more in the guide to Valencia.

# Organizations and the consulate

The ACCEM and CEAR offices, and the contacts of the Consulate General of Ukraine in Barcelona, whose district includes the province, are in the guide to Alicante. You book the consulate through e-Consul (e-consul.gov.ua; the old address go.mfa.gov.ua redirects there).

Passports are also issued by the state enterprise DP “Document” (State Migration Service of Ukraine); its services are paid, and addresses and booking are on pasport.org.ua. The usual way to get a passport abroad is through the consulate. The nearest DP “Document” center is described in the guide to Valencia.

# Association of Ukrainians of Torrevieja

In its list of community organizations, the Embassy of Ukraine names the Association of Ukrainians of Torrevieja (Asociación de Ucranianos de Torrevieja) at C/ Pedro Lorca, 138. In 2022 the city hall wrote that the association collected humanitarian aid at its premises at this address and worked with local nonprofit organizations. Both sources may be out of date, so check whether the contacts are still current.

# How is Torrevieja different from other cities?

The main differences: Torrevieja is in the area where Spanish predominates, the CREADE center here gives advice but does not accept protection applications, and padrón booking and certificates have their own procedure.

# Language at school

Under the law on the Valencian language (Ley 4/1983, Art. 36), Torrevieja is one of the municipalities where Spanish (Castilian) predominates. Pupils here can ask for an exemption from assessment in Valencian with no time limit (Ley 1/2024, Art. 14.1); they still have to attend the lessons and take part in them (Art. 6.3, 7.2).

In primary school, reading and writing are taught in Spanish. All pupils study Valencian, Spanish and English, at least one non-language subject is taught in English, and the other subjects in Spanish (Art. 6, 7). If enough parents choose Valencian as the main language of instruction and there are not enough places, the education authorities must take measures to meet this demand (Art. 8).

# Language of city services

The Concejalía de Residentes Internacionales serves people in Spanish, English, German, French and the Scandinavian languages; Ukrainian and Russian are not on this list. Advice in Ukrainian is given by CREADE.

# Appointment backlogs

We found no official announcements about appointment backlogs in Torrevieja. The only official mention of a delay concerns padrón certificates requested through a representative and certificates prepared manually: they take several weeks to be issued.

# What has not yet been officially confirmed?

Official sources confirm most local rules, but check a few details yourself:

• Before you travel to Alicante, ask at the police station at C/ Arquitecto Larramendi, 3, where exactly to file your temporary protection application.
• The city hall does not publish the hours of Censo y Estadística: before your visit, write to [email protected] or call the city hall.
• The city hall does not describe a separate padrón procedure for people without housing: ask the social services.
• The contacts of the Association of Ukrainians of Torrevieja may be out of date, and the programs for Ukrainians that the city hall wrote about in 2022 may have ended.

# What should you read next?

• Guide for Ukrainians in Alicante: provincial offices
• Guide for Ukrainians in Valencia: regional rules
• Temporary protection in Spain for Ukrainians
• Documents for living in Spain: NIE, TIE, padrón
• Arraigo in Spain: grounds and how to apply
• Aid for Ukrainians in Spain
• Work in Spain for Ukrainians
• All city guides for Spain