How to Vote in German Elections From Spain

A German citizen living on the Costa can vote in Bundestag elections by post, and one rule decides it: after your 14th birthday you lived in Germany for at least three months without a break, and that stay falls within the last 25 years. There is a second route (direct, personal familiarity with German politics), and the municipality that receives your application decides whether you qualify.

The part people on the Costa get wrong is the register. Germans abroad with no registered address in Germany are on no electoral roll at all. You apply for entry before every election, in writing, to the last German municipality you were registered in, and the application has to arrive there by the 21st day before polling day. Miss that and the next chance is the following election.

Last verified: 28 September 2026.

Three months in Germany, within 25 years

The Federal Returning Officer calls Germans who live abroad without a registered abode in Germany Auslandsdeutsche — German expatriates. Section 12(2) of the Federal Elections Act gives them the vote in two cases:

• Case 1. After reaching the age of 14, you were resident in Germany for an uninterrupted period of at least three months, and that stay took place within the last 25 years. A former address in the old East Germany counts.
• Case 2. For other reasons, you have become familiar, personally and directly, with the political situation in Germany and are affected by it. Reading German news from Spain does not count; the official page says passive media consumption “does not suffice”.

The competent municipality decides which case you fall into, and whether you qualify at all. You can object in writing, and appeal its answer to the constituency returning officer. Anyone still registered at a German address stays on their home municipality’s register automatically and votes by post without any of this.

Which elections you can vote in from Spain

Two: the Bundestag, and the European Parliament. For European elections the rule is looser. A German who has lived in another EU member state for at least three months on election day can apply to vote in Germany with no 25-year limit, or vote in Spain instead. The Federal Returning Officer’s European election page says you may use your vote only once.

Land parliaments and municipal councils are governed by each Land’s own law. The federal pages we read do not cover them, so ask the Landeswahlleitung — Land returning officer of your last Land before assuming you have a vote there. The other half of the question is Spain: as an EU citizen resident here you can vote in Spanish municipal elections once you are on the electoral roll for them, and our guide on voting in Spanish municipal elections as a foreign resident covers the declaration and the deadline.

How to register: a fresh application before every election

The form is the Antrag auf Eintragung in das Wählerverzeichnis für im Ausland lebende Deutsche — application for entry in the electoral register for Germans living abroad, a PDF on the Federal Returning Officer’s page for Germans abroad, in one version for Case 1 and one for Case 2.

• Where it goes. To the municipality you were last registered with before leaving Germany. In Hamburg and Berlin that is the Bezirksamt — borough office for your old borough.
• How it goes. Case 1: signed by hand, then by post, fax, e-mail or another verifiable electronic route. Case 2: the signed original only. For a European election the signed original is required in every case.
• When. Received by the 21st day before election day, with no extension. For the February 2025 Bundestag election that was 2 February 2025; for the June 2024 European election it was 19 May 2024.
• What comes back. Usually nothing. Municipalities rarely confirm receipt. The application counts as a request for a polling card too, and the postal ballot documents follow automatically once the candidate lists are final and the ballots are printed.

An early election shortens every one of these windows, and the 2025 election was an early one. The Federal Foreign Office’s Elefand list e-mails registered Germans abroad the key dates before each election.

Voting from the Costa: postal ballot, and the consulate courier

Postal vote only. There are no polling stations in German missions; the Federal Returning Officer’s page explains that stocking ballot papers for all 299 constituencies at every consulate would not be workable. Your return letter has to be at the electoral office in Germany by 6 p.m. on election day.

There is a fallback. For the February 2025 election the German missions in Barcelona, Madrid, Málaga, Las Palmas and Palma offered the official courier service for returning postal ballots. Courier letters had to be at the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin by Thursday 20 February 2025, three days before the vote, so the consulate’s own cut-off was earlier still. The list of missions is drawn up afresh for each election, so the page for the next election is the only version that counts.

For the Costa the mission is the German Consulate in Málaga, at c/ Mauricio Moro Pareto 2, 5°, Edificio Eurocom Sur, 29006 Málaga; its district is Andalusia plus Ceuta and Melilla. The page warns that within the EU the courier is often no faster than the post, and that courier letters cannot be tracked. Return letters sent by courier need no stamp.

The next date that matters

The next Bundestag election has not been called. Article 39 of the Basic Law puts it no earlier than 46 and no later than 48 months after the electoral term began, and the 21st Bundestag held its constituent sitting on 25 March 2025, so that rule gives a window from 25 January to 25 March 2029. A dissolution would bring it forward, with the vote within 60 days. The next European Parliament election is in 2029 and its date is not yet set. Nothing falls due before the end of 2026.

What this does not cover

• Land and municipal elections in Germany. Ask your last Land’s returning officer.
• Spanish regional and national elections. Voting in Germany changes nothing there; see Can foreigners vote in elections in Spain?
• Whether the Málaga consulate will offer the courier at the next election. The list is set per election.

The five-minute version

• Eligible if, after age 14, you lived in Germany for three unbroken months within the last 25 years, or can show direct familiarity with German politics.
• Bundestag and European Parliament only. For European elections, vote in Germany or in Spain, once.
• Apply before every election to your last German municipality, on the application for entry in the electoral register for Germans living abroad.
• The application has to arrive by the 21st day before election day. No extensions, and usually no receipt.
• Postal vote only. In 2025 the Málaga consulate returned postal ballots by official courier; the list is set per election.
• Next Bundestag election: not called; the constitutional window is 25 January to 25 March 2029.

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 Dutch Elections From Spain

General information, not legal advice, current as of 28 September 2026. Primary sources: the Federal Returning Officer’s pages for Germans abroad (2025 Bundestag election and 2024 European election), section 12 of the Federal Elections Act and article 39 of the Basic Law on gesetze-im-internet.de, the Bundestag’s record of its constituent sitting, and the Federal Foreign Office’s page for the German Consulate in Málaga.