AboutVíctor Díaz Expertise I live in Madrid,and travel frequently to Valencia. I have also travelled to many places all over spain, if haven't been there i'd try to help anyway providing my knowledge and links.
I enjoy trekking in the mountains, and know pyrinees, Picos de Europa and mountains in the center.
Question Hi,
I'm an exchange student traveling from Madrid to Cadiz. I was wondering, do I need a NIF or Pasaporte CIF to book a ticket on the Secorbus from the U.S.? Is the process different if I buy the ticket at the bus station, and if I wait to buy a ticket would it be likely that I wouldn't get a seat. If I must have one of these numbers is it only possible to get it if I go in person to a Spanish consulate or a police station in Spain? I leave in a week for Spain and I did not realize that I might have to apply for another form of identification.
Answer Hello Cheryl
There are several numbers and ways to identify in spain
DNI: documento nacional de identidad, give for SPANISH CITIZENS, 11numbers,almost everyone knows theirs as it's asked frequently for many kinds of applications. It's compulsory to have it.
NIF: Numero de identificacion fiscal, The same number of DNI + a letter which is plainly a control character, the letter is a thing every spanish citizen must know together with the dni number. It was issued by the Spanish Treasury, now is included in the DNI. Only for spanish citizens.
CIF; The same as NIF but issued to identify companies. Only for spanish companies.
NIE: Same as dni but identify foreign RESIDENTS in Spain.
In your case you don't need to ask for any of the above numbers, and as an exchange student, your only valid document will be the passport.
Passport or DNI are commonly requested when paying by card, which is the normal way of paying on line, thus every site would ask for the DNI, but in theory a passport should be valid too.
For example renfe site allows to tell the system which kind of number you are going to give in order to identify your purchase (nif, nie,passport, other)
In the Sercobus - Socibus site (haven't changed for years and never they finished a version for other languages) http://www.socibus.es/index.html
you must choose the Pasaporte-CIF (passport OR cif) option, so the system won't check if the nif given is valid (the 11 numbers + control letter). In thery it should work with your passport, but if it doesn't for any reason, you will probably found tickets available at the bus station the same day of the travel and won't be required for the passport, unless you pay with credit card.
Notice that in spain if you are planning to go shopping and pay with credit card you better take the passport with you, the rest of the time a photocopy is ok.
