Registering a child at the Town Hall now requires the agreement of both parents

SPAIN (Agencies) The Registration Council, an agency of the National Institute of Statistics (INE in its Spanish acronym) has announced that it is establishing a new formula for the registration (empadronamiento) of a dependent minor at Town Halls, which until now required the signature of only one parent. The procedure will now require that of both parents as a measure to avoid possible kidnapping by one or other of the child's parents. The change means that, as a general rule, the registration forms that notify an Ayuntamiento of the child's registration in the municipality must carry the signature of both parents, and will require presentation of the Libro de Familia (if the child is born in Spain) as long as custody is not in only one of the parent's name, in which case, the appropriate court order should also be presented.