Pet Transport from Spain to the USA
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The entire American requirement for a Spanish dog: submit the free CDC Dog Import Form online and print the receipt, carry a microchip a universal scanner can read, be at least six months old, and look healthy to the officer. Land at any airport you like.
No rabies titre. No endorsed rabies certification. No CDC-registered facility reservation. No quarantine. And no screwworm certificate either, because Spain is not on the USDA’s screwworm-affected list, which is what forces an official vet appointment in the final five days for origins across much of Asia and the Middle East.
Cats need nothing at all from the CDC.
So the real planning question on this route is not regulatory. It is whether your dog can travel in the cabin.
The Spain to United States process
Responsible: You
Responsible: You + airline
Responsible: Your veterinarian
Responsible: Your veterinarian
Responsible: You
Which United States rules depend on a pet coming from Spain?
The United States sorts countries into 2 groups, and Spain falls in “Dog rabies-free or low-risk countries”.
Dog has been only in these countries for 6 months before entry: CDC Dog Import Form receipt (valid 6 months), age 6 months, microchip, healthy; any airport, seaport or land border. Official source
These rules apply to that group, on top of the rules every pet follows:
- Import permit: For dogs only in rabies-free or low-risk countries, the receipt is valid 6 months unless the dog visits a high-risk country or a different low-risk country in that time. Applies to dogs from rabies-free or low-risk countries.
Entry Requirements for Dogs from Dog-Rabies Free or Low-Risk Countries, checked 2 October 2026 - Health certificate: No document beyond the CDC Dog Import Form receipt is listed for dogs only in rabies-free or low-risk countries. Applies to dogs from rabies-free or low-risk countries.
Entry Requirements for Dogs from Dog-Rabies Free or Low-Risk Countries, checked 2 October 2026 - Health certificate: Not required: CDC does not require a general health certificate for pets (cats, and dogs only in rabies-free or low-risk countries). Airlines and some states may still ask for one.
Bringing an Animal into the U.S., checked 2 October 2026 - Rabies vaccination: CDC recommends, but for dogs only from rabies-free or low-risk countries does not list as an entry requirement, rabies vaccination. Applies to dogs from rabies-free or low-risk countries.
Bringing a Dog into the United States, checked 2 October 2026 - How your pet may travel: Not required: no federal restriction on mode of travel for dogs only in rabies-free or low-risk countries; they may arrive by air, sea or land. Cabin, checked baggage or cargo is an airline matter. (Seattle's CDC facility takes cargo-only reservations, and the LAX facilities prefer cargo, for high-risk dogs.) Applies to dogs from rabies-free or low-risk countries.
Entry Requirements for Dogs from Dog-Rabies Free or Low-Risk Countries, checked 2 October 2026 - Arrival points and notice: Dogs only in rabies-free or low-risk countries may enter at any airport, seaport or land border. Applies to dogs from rabies-free or low-risk countries.
Entry Requirements for Dogs from Dog-Rabies Free or Low-Risk Countries, checked 2 October 2026
One rule for every pet entering the United States decides whether yours can travel at all:
- Minimum age: Every dog must be at least 6 months old on entry or return to the US.
Entry Requirements for Dogs from Dog-Rabies Free or Low-Risk Countries, checked 2 October 2026 - Minimum age: Not listed: cats. CDC's cat section requires only that cats appear healthy on arrival (they may be inspected, examined at the owner's cost if ill, or refused if they show a zoonotic disease); rabies vaccination proof is not required. APHIS states it has no animal health requirements for pet cats (https://www.aphis.usda.gov/pet-travel/another-country-to-us-import/cats). Neither sets a minimum age; destination states may.
Bringing an Animal into the U.S., checked 2 October 2026
The rules that apply to every pet entering the United States, whatever the origin, are listed with their official sources in our United States guide.
What does Spain require before your pet leaves?
- Export health certificate: Endorsement: pet export certificates are issued by inspectors of the Servicios de Control Oficial en Frontera; for countries that require it they must first be legalised by MAPA's Subdirección General de Acuerdos Sanitarios y Control en Frontera (Calle Almagro 33, 28010 Madrid), by appointment requested by email (sgacuerdos@mapa.es) at least 24 working hours ahead. The appointment form mentions a fee only for phytosanitary certificates. Applies to dogs, cats and ferrets leaving Spain where the destination requires legalisation.
Solicitud cita previa para certificados de exportación y mascotas, checked 2 October 2026 - Export health certificate: For a pet export certificate the owner's veterinarian must request it through MAPA's CEXGAN application. Applies to dogs, cats and ferrets leaving Spain for a non-EU country.
Viajar con la mascota. Perros, gatos, hurones, checked 1 October 2026 - Export health certificate: Travellers must meet the destination country's requirements; the necessary certificates are issued by the Áreas de Agricultura of the Government Delegations and Subdelegations (page dated 28 September 2026). Applies to dogs, cats and ferrets leaving Spain for a non-EU country.
Viajar con animales de compañía, checked 1 October 2026 - Export health certificate: Who issues: the Áreas de Agricultura of the Government Delegations and Subdelegations are the offices in charge of issuing pet export certificates. Applies to dogs, cats and ferrets leaving Spain for a non-EU country.
Viajar con la mascota. Perros, gatos, hurones, checked 1 October 2026
What this route typically costs
| 1 | Iberia cabin carriage on long-haul US routes, reported at up to around 180 EUR; hold fees banded by weight up to 45kg |
| 2 | An airline-compliant soft carrier for the cabin, or an IATA crate for the hold |
| 3 | Veterinary fitness-to-fly documentation for the airline |
| 4 | Ground handling, only if the animal moves as manifested cargo |
Read before you book
Airlines on this route
Why the cabin question decides the whole move
Across the Atlantic, most US carriers have withdrawn from carrying civilian pets in the hold. That leaves European airlines doing the work, and Spain is better served than most.
Published airline summaries put Iberia among the small group of carriers that will take a dog or cat in the cabin on a long-haul flight to the United States, with the animal and its carrier together weighing under 8kg and the carrier no larger than roughly 45 x 35 x 25cm. Larger animals go in a climate-controlled hold, with fees banded by weight up to 45kg. Bookings are made through Iberia’s booking offices rather than online, at least 48 hours before departure.
Those figures come from third-party airline guides rather than from Iberia’s own page, which could not be read when this was checked, so treat them as a strong indication and confirm them when you book. What is not in doubt is the shape: a small dog has a genuine cabin option out of Madrid, and a 25kg dog does not.
So weigh the animal in its carrier before you do anything else. Under 8kg opens up a straightforward, relatively cheap booking. Over it, and you are into hold carriage or manifested cargo, which changes the price, the crate, the handling and the paperwork all at once.
What Spain's status actually spares you
It is worth naming the things this route does not involve, because they dominate most pet-transport guidance and none of them apply.
Spain is not on the CDC’s high-risk list for dog rabies. A Spanish dog faces none of it and can land anywhere.
Spain is also absent from the APHIS screwworm-affected list, so there is no official government veterinary inspection required within five days of shipment.
And Spain appears on the APHIS list of regions free of foot-and-mouth disease subject to restrictions, which puts it in better standing than origins that have to bathe the animal on arrival and keep it from livestock for five days.
Your dog’s EU pet passport, meanwhile, has no standing at the US border. It is a European document. Airlines routinely ask to see it because it holds the vaccination record, and it will matter enormously if you ever bring the animal back, but no American official requires it.
Rabies vaccination: not required, still sensible
The CDC does not require a rabies vaccination for a dog arriving from a low-risk country such as Spain. It recommends one, and the distinction is worth understanding rather than glossing.
Several things make it the right call anyway. Airlines commonly ask for a current rabies vaccination in their own conditions of carriage regardless of what the border requires. Individual US states set their own rabies rules for resident animals, and you will be registering the dog somewhere. And if the family later moves back to the EU, the return trip runs on the vaccination record in that pet passport, with a lapse in cover potentially costing months.
Keeping the vaccination current is the cheap option in every scenario. Letting it lapse because the American border does not check is a decision that only looks free until you need it.
Common questions
Spain to United States?
Sources
Requirements on this page were checked against the authorities below. Rules change, so confirm current conditions with the relevant authority before you travel.
- USDA APHIS · United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
- CDC · United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, dog import rules
- IATA · International Air Transport Association, Live Animals Regulations