How to make a “denuncia” to report and replace lost, stolen or illegible documents

We’ve all had that awful sinking feeling when you go to grab that all-important document (passport, driving licence, bank card etc), and it’s not where you KNOW you left it. Or your trusty A4 green residency certificate is falling to pieces on the creases or worst of all, you’re the victim of theft.

While organising a replacement is a bit of a faff, it’s not as difficult as you might think. Here’s what you need to know …

ALWAYS HAVE COPIES OF IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS

It’s just common sense to keep copies of key documents – both paper and electronic – and with scanning apps and cloud storage available for free, it’s never been easier to keep records secure and updated.

Report the loss – Making a denuncia 
Whether it’s to report lost, stolen or illegible documents, your first port of call is to make a police report. Back in the day, this meant finding the nearest station, queueing for a few hours, waiting for the details to be typed up … (remember typewriters?), then taking the completed denuncia to your consulate/Trafico/bank/another but different Police Station … filling in more forms. Things have moved on …

Online – make an e-denuncia 
Guardia Civil (takes a while to load)
Policia Nacional 

Complete the fields in Spanish (if using Google Chrome, you can translate into English) and use a translation app like Deepl to make this easier. You will need to visit your nominated Police Station within a couple of days to collect your paperwork, but you can use the crime reference number generated by the online report in the meantime to speed things up. 

Reporting by telephone
You can call the Guardia Civil to make a telephone report on 900 101 062, but bear in mind you’ll need to speak decent Spanish (or use a translator)

The National Police/Policia Nacional also have the facility to make a telephone report (again in Spanish), or you can call specialist helplines in various European languages.

Reporting in person
As you will need to visit the Police Station anyway, you can, of course, go old school and make your report in person. Again, if your Spanish language skills aren’t great, take a translator with you.
This is a useful tool to find your nearest National Police Station

What information will you need to provide?
This is where your copies will be invaluable, as you’ll need to provide full details of what’s missing, for example:

• IMEI numbers or serial numbers of the stolen goods or objects reported or lost
• If some type of injury is involved, you’ll need to provide a medical report of injuries.
• In bank card scams, you must provide the bank card number, as well as a bank statement or a printed electronic banking document showing the details of the account and/or any unauthorised withdrawals etc
• any type of document or information in relation to the events reported that could be necessary for a subsequent police investigation

What happens next?
You’ll be given a copy of the denuncia paperwork which you can then use to get replacement documents. Depending on what’s been lost, you’ll need to contact the relevant public offices either in Spain or the country the document was originally issued.

Let Upsticks help
Upsticks can organise replacement residency documents and point you in the right direction for other solutions too. You can either Book a Call or email support@upsticks.es, and we’ll be happy to help.