# How can I translate my address in Spain?



## AllHeart (Nov 22, 2013)

I'm having problems translating my address in Spain on Canadian forms, and hope someone might be able to help me out. My thinking is Americans or Canadians on the forum may have come across this problem. So examples of this problem are for fixed forms that I have to fill out, like taxes (Revenue Canada), Canada Pension and my bank. In Canada, forms are set up as follows (with a fake address for example):

Street Number: 123
Street Name: Joseph St
Apartment/Unit Number: 4A
City: Toronto
Province: Ontario
Postal Code: N2J 2X1

This address is spelled out in Canada like this:

4A-123 Joseph Street
(or 123 Joseph Street, Apartment 4A)
Toronto, Ontario
N2J 2X1

However, in Spain, addresses are written very differently, and this address in Spain would be written as follows:

Joseph Street 123, 4A
N2J 2X1 Toronto
Ontario

So what will happen is that my mail will come to me formatted the Canadian way. Will my mail get to me? This is really, really, really important for me to know, because all this mail is extremely important. So I'm hoping someone can advise me if there will be a problem or not, and if there is a problem how I can fix it? :fingerscrossed:


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## AllHeart (Nov 22, 2013)

Oh... The reason I said Canadians or Americans isn't for lack of wanting to hear from people from the rest of the world. Americans have the same address format as Canadians. And the urgency is that right now I'm really in a pickle because I can't make bank transfers from my Canadian accounts because of this problem. The bank machines are very expensive, going on three months now!


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## larryzx (Jul 2, 2014)

AllHeart said:


> Oh... The reason I said Canadians or Americans isn't for lack of wanting to hear from people from the rest of the world. Americans have the same address format as Canadians. And the urgency is that right now I'm really in a pickle because I can't make bank transfers from my Canadian accounts because of this problem. The bank machines are very expensive, going on three months now!


The UK address format is the same as USA, I have never had any problems. When I need to show my UK address I do so in the UK format and for the Spanish one I use the Spanish format.

I have made bank transfers to USA, using the appropriate bank codes, and have done the same from UK to Spain, again no problems.


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## VFR (Dec 23, 2009)

It is not an issue (IMO)
Just write your address as it is written here in Spain & those in other country's will simply copy that & not change it to suit their style (why would they)


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## Madliz (Feb 4, 2011)

Your mail in Canadian format will get to you. Postal services in every country of the world have to decipher different formats, if not, no overseas mail would ever reach its destination! I have received mail from all over the world and anything from the USA arrives with no problem, even formatted in their special way. The road and number are not hard to interpret, even if the numbers are at the beginning of the line instead of the end.


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## larryzx (Jul 2, 2014)

AllHeart said:


> Oh... * I can't make bank transfers from my Canadian accounts because of this problem.* The bank machines are very expensive, going on three months now!


I thought this was a banking 'problem' not a mail one.

QUOTE from: http://auctionfeecalculator.com/swift_transfers.html

_SWIFT identifies the payment beneficiary’s bank; the bank designated to receive the funds transfer. It usually consists of 8 to 11 characters that adds bank identification to the details provided by the Basic Bank Account Number or BBAN. 

SWIFT has been renamed BIC which stands for Bank Identifier Code, however most banks still refer to SWIFT codes, SWIFT numbers or SWIFT addresses; a


SWIFT does not include a check sum for automatic validation unlike the modern IBAN. Most banks conducting international business will have their full SWIFT details listed in the SWIFT online database._


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

*Full name: * Pesky Wesky

*Address Line 1: *Calle Madrid 1
(or company name) 
House name/number and street, P.O. box, company name, c/o
*Address Line 2: *
(optional) 
Apartment, suite, unit, building, floor, etc.
*Town/City: * Las Rozas

*County: * Madrid

*Postcode: * 28280

*Country: *SpainThis is what I do on Amazon for example.
PS Not my real name!
Or address*https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/css/account/address/view.html?ie=UTF8&viewID=newAddress#*


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

Pesky Wesky said:


> *Full name: * Pesky Wesky
> 
> PS Not my real name!
> Or address*https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/css/account/address/view.html?ie=UTF8&viewID=newAddress#*


NOT your real name?? OMG, all these years....


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

thrax said:


> NOT your real name?? OMG, all these years....


I know, surprising isn't it? 
OK, I'll fess up, my real name is El Pequeño Nicolas
http://i100.independent.co.uk/artic...an-who-tricked-the-whole-of-spain--lJ4Q6YKHdx


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## AllHeart (Nov 22, 2013)

Thanks for your replies! I'm going to go ahead and fill out all the forms in the Canadian way. What a relief to know this will all get to me.

Larry, the problems isn't the SWIFT code - it's the address. I didn't know until getting my pension last week if I could stay in this apartment, so all my mail has been going to a Canadian friend to now. So now that I know I'm staying here, I'm giving my change of address. My pension and annuity will continue to be deposited in my Canadian account, so I have to transfer that money to my Spanish bank account. But in order to do a bank transfer from my Canadian to Spanish account, I need to have a proper address in my Canadian bank system. But I was worried that the Canadian format would mean that I won't get my mail properly. But with these replies, now I'm not worried. Makes more sense now?

Baby-faced Nicolas? OMG what a cheeky monkey! Kids these days....


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

The only problems we have had is with the length of an address in Spain, for example:
Calle de la Carrera de Ramón y Cajal, 6
is just too long so it gets shortened to C/ de... etc

Some fill-in forms, either computerised or paper do not allow for long addresses, either and you have to put the most relevant information in such as (in the above example "Cra de Ramón y Cajal 6" Here and in the UK postal delivery workers are a little more intelligent and tolerant than in the US and will do their best to deliver incompletely addressed mail, for example if you omit the zip code for an address in the US, you are likely to get the item returned "undeliverable - no zip code" when the rest of the address is correct in every respect - sheer bl**dy-mindedness or ignorance - take your pick


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## AllHeart (Nov 22, 2013)

baldilocks said:


> The only problems we have had is with the length of an address in Spain, for example:
> Calle de la Carrera de Ramón y Cajal, 6
> is just too long so it gets shortened to C/ de... etc
> 
> Some fill-in forms, either computerised or paper do not allow for long addresses, either and you have to put the most relevant information in such as (in the above example "Cra de Ramón y Cajal 6" Here and in the UK postal delivery workers are a little more intelligent and tolerant than in the US and will do their best to deliver incompletely addressed mail, for example if you omit the zip code for an address in the US, you are likely to get the item returned "undeliverable - no zip code" when the rest of the address is correct in every respect - sheer bl**dy-mindedness or ignorance - take your pick


 I'm just happy to hear that the UK has the same system as we do in Canada and they have in the States, because there are a lot of Brits here who can vouch for the mail getting to me despite the different way of writing our addresses.

I think it was implied in my question that the Canadian postal system is just as rigid and incompetent as the American system. It's the same in Canada where if you if don't put the postal code, you're likely never to see the item. 

So it seems mail delivery is yet another improvement in my life, here in Spain. Yay! :smokin:


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## Brangus (May 1, 2010)

"Apt." can be mistaken for "apartado" (post-office box), which can create some confusion, but they seem to figure it out eventually.

To simplify the street address, I omit the words "calle de" and the article. So if my street were "Calle del Matadero, 5" I would shorten it to "Matadero 5."


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## Brangus (May 1, 2010)

baldilocks said:


> Here and in the UK postal delivery workers are a little more intelligent and tolerant than in the US


Really? Albacete's only tourist attraction until recently was World's Worst Postal Employee, but alas, that branch has closed.

I'm still amazed that in the U.S. I once received three postcards from Acapulco, each with badly smeared ink. The post office had pieced together my address by using bits of info from each postcard. If they had known that the sender was my mother-in-law, they might not have bothered!


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## AllHeart (Nov 22, 2013)

Brangus said:


> "Apt." can be mistaken for "apartado" (post-office box), which can some confusion, but they seem to figure it out eventually.
> 
> To simplify the street address, I omit the words "calle de" and the article. So if my street were "Calle del Matadero, 5" I would shorten it to "Matadero 5."


Brangus, I didn't know about the problem with the abbreviation Apt. Thank you for the heads up on that. I'll bear that in mind.

The post box problem is one of the problems I'm having with the online bank form (and probably other systems in the future), but not because of the Calle. The problem is that the bank system sees the number after the street as a post box, and it will not accept post box addresses. So I'm going to have to put it in the bank system (using your example) as 5 Calle de Matadero, instead of Calle de Matadero 5. So that was one of my concerns, that it would not get to me because of this, but based on these responses I think it'll be okay.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Brangus said:


> "Apt." can be mistaken for "apartado" (post-office box), which can create some confusion, but they seem to figure it out eventually.
> 
> To simplify the street address, I omit the words "calle de" and the article. So if my street were "Calle del Matadero, 5" I would shorten it to "Matadero 5."


Isn't the PO box usually AA Apartado Aereo?


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## larryzx (Jul 2, 2014)

For years I have shown my address without the first name, even at one end of the road it is omitted from the name plate. However, I have recently started using the compete address as a courier was unable to find me as on the map of course my road is shown with the complete name.

i.e. I now show C/ Francisco García Lorca, 

whereas `previously I showed C/ García Lorca

Example only

Some years ago when I lived in a pueblo my brother always only ever addressed letters to me by name and the name of the pueblo. The postman always delivered even without a road or number shown.

Incidentally postman usually know a great deal about the people who live on their delivery round, much more that one might imagine. A great source of info for the police and say the tax man, for those who think they can live under the radar.


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## Brangus (May 1, 2010)

baldilocks said:


> Isn't the PO box usually AA Apartado Aereo?


I've never had a P.O. box, only had the abbreviation "Apt." circled on my mail by puzzled postal employees, along with scribbled notes and question marks.

Here the Correos website uses the term "apartado postal": Productos y servicios de oficinas


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## Madliz (Feb 4, 2011)

I send letters to a Spanish family member's P:O: Box at _Aptdo Nº 5_. This is how I was instructed to write it.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

I've never used _apto _(or anything else come to that)for an apartment

the address would usually be along the lines of C/ Mayor, 12, 2, B

the 12 is the street number, the 3 is the floor & the B is the door number

if there's more than 1 set of stairs you might get C/ Mayor, 12, esc 2, 3, B

sometimes the door is denoted by _pta_ B


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## Brangus (May 1, 2010)

xabiachica said:


> I've never used _apto _(or anything else come to that)for an apartment


Nor have I. But the OP said:



AllHeart said:


> So what will happen is that my mail will come to me formatted the Canadian way. Will my mail get to me?


In the U.S. and Canada, "Apt." is a standard postal abbreviation for "apartment."


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## AllHeart (Nov 22, 2013)

Brangus said:


> In the U.S. and Canada, "Apt." is a standard postal abbreviation for "apartment."


 That's right. Typically on forms you can choose "Apt" (apartment) or "Unit" or "Ste" (suite). They don't have this on my banking form. But they may well on other forms that I'm about to do. What if I choose "unit?" Would that be a problem in Spain?

So these are the different ways a Spanish address would be written in Spain, with the Spanish address being Calle de Funky 6, 5B:

5B-6 Calle de Funky
6 Calle de Funky, Unit 5B
6 Calle de Funky, Apt 5B
6 Calle de Funky, Ste 5B


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## Madliz (Feb 4, 2011)

When I've filled in foreign forms and wanted the address to come out 'Spanish style', I've left the _number_ field blank and then completed the _street_ field thus:

Calle de Funky 6, 5B

Whatever you insert is basically copy/pasted rather than read and rejected, in my experience.


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## AllHeart (Nov 22, 2013)

Liz, what a great idea! Thank you.


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