How to Vote in Dutch Elections From Spain

A Dutch citizen living on the Costa keeps the vote for the Tweede Kamer and the European Parliament, with no time limit, and one thing decides it: you are on the list of kiezers buiten Nederland — voters outside the Netherlands kept by the municipality of The Hague, or you are not. You register once, online, and after that the ballot papers arrive by themselves before every election you ticked.

Where people go wrong is the third election on that form. Dutch nationals abroad also elect the kiescollege niet-ingezetenen — electoral college for non-residents, which votes alongside the provincial councils to choose the Senate. It needs its own tick; a registration for the Tweede Kamer or the European Parliament does not cover it. The next college election is on 17 March 2027 and registration for it closes on 3 February 2027.

Last verified: 28 September 2026.

Who can vote from Spain

NederlandWereldwijd, the foreign ministry’s site for Dutch nationals abroad, lists five conditions, and none of them is a time limit:

• You hold Dutch nationality.
• You are 18 or over.
• You live outside the Netherlands and are not registered with a Dutch municipality.
• You are registered as a voter outside the Netherlands.
• You hold a valid Dutch passport or identity card. A driving licence does not count, and neither does a certificate of Dutch nationality.

Twenty years in Fuengirola changes nothing; an expired passport does. A copy of it goes into the envelope with your vote.

Which elections are open to you from Spain

Three: the Tweede Kamer, the European Parliament, and the electoral college for non-residents that helps elect the Eerste Kamer. Municipal councils, the provincial councils and the water boards are closed to you; those votes go with residence in a Dutch municipality.

For the European Parliament there is a choice to make, once. The NederlandWereldwijd page for Dutch nationals in another EU country says you vote either for a Dutch candidate or for a candidate in the EU country where you live, and if you choose the second you may not also vote for a Dutch candidate; EU countries exchange their voter registrations to prevent double voting. Spain also gives you a vote of its own: as an EU citizen resident here you can vote in Spanish municipal elections once you are on the Spanish electoral roll for them, a separate registration with its own deadline.

How to register, once

Registration runs through the municipality of The Hague. You fill in the registratieformulier voor kiezers buiten Nederland — registration form for voters outside the Netherlands on denhaag.nl and tick the elections you want: Tweede Kamer, European Parliament, electoral college, or all three. The NederlandWereldwijd registration page describes it as a one-off, and the Kiesraad says the same for the electoral college: register once, online, with The Hague.

After that the paperwork finds you. Around 12 weeks before an election the municipality posts your briefstembewijs — postal voting certificate to your address in Spain. Around four weeks before, the stembiljet — ballot paper arrives by e-mail, or by post if you chose that when registering. You need both. A new address or e-mail address goes in on the wijzigingsformulier — change form, signed and sent to The Hague with a copy of your passport or identity card, and the same form lets you add an election you did not tick the first time.

How to vote from the Costa: post, proxy, or a trip home

By post, the default. You send the ballot paper, the postal voting certificate and a copy of your valid Dutch passport or identity card to the briefstembureau — postal ballot office in The Hague. The how-to-vote page gives two other routes for the same envelope: post it to a Dutch embassy or consulate-general, or hand it in there, and the post forwards it to The Hague. Contact the embassy first, the page says, to check whether its postal address is the same as its visiting address and when you can hand a vote in. A vote handed in needs no stamp. The pages do not say which Dutch posts in Spain take votes, so that is a question for the embassy before anyone drives anywhere.

By proxy, for the Tweede Kamer and the European Parliament only. Someone in the Netherlands votes on your behalf. The site suggests it where the post is slow or unreliable, and you apply to The Hague for each election separately.

In person, if you happen to be in the Netherlands on polling day, with a kiezerspas — voter pass requested from The Hague for that election.

The electoral college election is post only. No proxy, no voter pass.

The next dates that matter

• 3 February 2027: last day, inclusive, to register for the electoral college election.
• 17 March 2027: election of the electoral college for non-residents, the same day as the provincial council and water board elections, per the Kiesraad. Post only.
• 15 May 2030: the next regular Tweede Kamer election, per the Kiesraad. The last one was on 29 October 2025. If a cabinet falls, an early election can come at short notice, which is the case for registering now rather than when a date is announced.
• 2029: the next European Parliament election; the date is not yet set.

The college’s size depends on how many Dutch nationals abroad register, between 9 and 55 seats; it had 25 members for the 2023 Senate election.

What this does not cover

• Dutch municipal, provincial and water board elections. No route from abroad.
• Dutch nationals who still live in a Dutch municipality and are only temporarily in Spain. Different rules apply.
• Spanish national and regional elections. Registering in The Hague gives you nothing here; see Can foreigners vote in elections in Spain?
• The denhaag.nl form pages themselves. We could not open them today, so the form names and steps above come from the NederlandWereldwijd pages that link to them.
• Which Dutch posts in Spain accept postal votes. The official pages do not say; ask the embassy.

The five-minute version

• Eligible with no time limit: Dutch, 18 or over, living abroad, not registered in a Dutch municipality, valid Dutch passport or identity card.
• Register once with the municipality of The Hague on the registration form for voters outside the Netherlands. Tick every election you want, including the electoral college.
• Open to you: Tweede Kamer, European Parliament (in the Netherlands or in Spain, once), and the electoral college for the Senate. No municipal, provincial or water board vote.
• Postal voting certificate about 12 weeks before polling, ballot paper about four weeks before by e-mail. Send both back with a copy of your ID, or hand them in at an embassy or consulate-general.
• Proxy or a voter pass for the Tweede Kamer and European elections, applied for per election; the electoral college is post only.
• Next dates: register by 3 February 2027 for the 17 March 2027 electoral college vote; next regular Tweede Kamer election 15 May 2030.

Related guides

• Can You Still Vote in Your Home Country While Living in Spain?
• How to Register to Vote in Spanish Municipal Elections as a Foreign Resident
• Can Foreigners Vote in Elections in Spain?
• Spain Election Calendar for Foreign Residents
• How to Vote in Belgian Elections From Spain

General information, not legal advice, current as of 28 September 2026. Primary sources: NederlandWereldwijd (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) pages on voting from abroad, registering, the Tweede Kamer, the European Parliament and the electoral college for non-residents; the Kiesraad pages on the Tweede Kamer election and the electoral colleges.