Death in Spain
General information
Canadians travelling or residing abroad may die as a result of natural causes, accidents, murder or suicide. Canadian consular officials in Madrid are available to assist families in making the necessary arrangements if such a situation arises.
The cause of death determines some of the actions that need to be taken. If Canadian consular officials are notified of the death first, they will make arrangements through the consular operations bureau in Ottawa to have the next of kin notified and put the family in touch with consular officials in Ottawa. The family will then need to make an early decision on whether they wish the remains to be returned to Canada, or buried or cremated in the other country.
We recommend you read the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) document (PDF* 102 KB) which explains the rules and processes for returning remains to Canada.
Repatriation of ashes
Passengers should carry cremated remains in their hand luggage in a non-metallic urn and be ready to present the death certificate, cremation certificate and the funeral home’s or crematorium’s sealing certificate stating that the urn contains only the ashes of the deceased. Please confirm with the airline you are travelling on.
Repatriation of remains
The repatriation of a deceased Canadian citizen is organized through a funeral home in Spain and a funeral home in Canada. Spanish funeral homes offer a complete service and will handle all the arrangements once the next of kin have authorized the funeral home to do so.
Although the Embassy does not recommend any particular funeral home, we are aware that the following funeral homes are experienced in the repatriation of deceased persons to their country of origin:
Funespaña (website only in Spanish)
tel.: 900 500 000 (only from within Spain)
Servisa (website only in Spanish)
tel.: 902 364 365 (only from within Spain)
Memora
Tel.: 902 231 132 (only from within Spain)
Please visit the Death Abroad page for additional information
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