Entry Requirements & Customs

Visas

No visas are required for U.S. visitors to Spain providing your stay does not exceed 90 days. Australian visitors, however, need a visa.

What You Can Bring Into Spain

You can bring most personal effects and the following items duty-free: two still cameras and 10 rolls of film per camera; tobacco for personal use; 1 liter each of liquor and wine; a portable radio; a tape recorder; a typewriter; a bicycle; sports equipment; fishing gear; and two hunting weapons with 100 cartridges each.

What You Can Take Home From Spain

U.S. Citizens -- Returning U.S. citizens who have been away for 48 hours or more are allowed to bring back, once every 30 days, $400 worth of merchandise duty-free. You'll be charged a flat rate of 10% duty on the next $1,000 worth of purchases. Be sure to have your receipts handy. On gifts, the duty-free limit is $100.

For more specifics on what you can bring back and the corresponding fees, download the invaluable free pamphlet Know Before You Go online at www.cbp.gov. (Click on "Travel," and then click on "Know Before You Go! Online Brochure") Or contact the U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP), 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20229 (tel. 877/287-8667) and request the pamphlet.

Canadian Citizens -- Canada allows its citizens a C$750 exemption, and you are allowed to bring back duty-free 200 cigarettes, 2.2 pounds of tobacco, 40 imperial ounces (1.2 qt.) of liquor, and 50 cigars. In addition, you are allowed to mail gifts to Canada from abroad at the rate of C$60 a day, provided they are unsolicited and aren't alcohol or tobacco (write on the package: "Unsolicited gift, under $60 value"). All valuables should be declared on the Y-38 Form before departure from Canada, including serial numbers of, for example, expensive foreign cameras that you already own. Note: The C$750 exemption can be used only once a year and only after an absence of at least 7 days.

For a full summary of Canadian rules, write for the booklet I Declare, issued by the Canada Border Services Agency (tel. 800/461-9999 in Canada, or 204/983-3500; www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca).

U.K. Citizens -- If you're a citizen of the United Kingdom, you can buy wine, spirits, or cigarettes in an ordinary shop in any other European Union country and bring home almost as much as you like. (U.K. Customs and Excise does set theoretical limits.) But if you buy your goods in a duty-free shop, then the old rules still apply -- you're allowed to bring home 200 cigarettes and 2 liters of table wine, plus 1 liter of spirits or 2 liters of fortified wine. If you're returning home from a non-E.U. country, the same allowances apply, and you must declare any goods in excess of these allowances. British Customs tends to be strict and complicated in its requirements.

For further details, get in touch with HM Customs and Excise Office, Passenger Enquiry Point, Wayfarer House, Great South West Road, Feltham, Middlesex, TW14 8NP (tel. 0845/010-9000; from outside the U.K., 020/8929-0152), or consult their website at www.hmce.gov.uk.

Australian Citizens -- The duty-free allowance in Australia is A$400 or, for those under 18, A$200. Australian citizens are allowed to mail gifts to Australia from abroad duty-free to a limit of A$200 per parcel. There are no other restrictions on unsolicited gifts; however, you could be subject to a customs investigation if you send multiple parcels of the same gift to the same address. Upon returning to Australia, citizens can bring in 250 cigarettes or 250 grams of loose tobacco, and 1,125 milliliters of alcohol. If you're returning with valuable goods you already own, such as foreign-made cameras, you should file form B263. A helpful brochure, available from Australian consulates or customs offices, is Know Before You Go. For more information, contact Australian Customs Services, GPO Box 8, Sydney NSW 2001 (tel. 02/9213-2000 or -- alternatively -- 1300/363-263.) Or log on to www.customs.gov.au.

New Zealand Citizens -- The duty-free allowance for New Zealand is NZ$700. New Zealanders are allowed to mail gifts to New Zealand from abroad duty-free to a limit of NZ$70 per parcel. Beware of sending multiple parcels of the same gift to the same address; a Customs investigation could await your return home. Citizens over 17 years of age can bring in 200 cigarettes, or 50 cigars, or 250 grams of tobacco (or a mixture of all three if their combined weight doesn't exceed 250 grams); plus 4.5 liters of wine and beer, or 1.125 liters of liquor. New Zealand currency does not carry import or export restrictions. Fill out a certificate of export, listing the valuables you are taking out of the country; that way, you can bring them back without paying duty. Most questions are answered in a free pamphlet available at New Zealand consulates and Customs offices: New Zealand Customs Guide for Travellers, Notice no. 4. For more information, contact New Zealand Customs, The Customhouse, 17-21 Whitmore St., Box 2218, Wellington (tel. 04/473-6099 or 0800/428-786; www.customs.govt.nz).