Spain’s hated ‘cita previa’ appointment bottleneck—often exploited by bots and intermediaries who resell slots for up to €200—may soon meet its match. On 12 February the Interior Ministry confirmed that the National Police in L’Hospitalet de Llobregat (Barcelona) has begun a six-month pilot that automatically allocates Foreigner Identity Card (TIE) appointments when a residence dossier is approved.
Under the scheme, successful applicants receive an SMS or e-mail with a pre-booked slot within a week, covering roughly one-third of the province’s monthly 1,400 TIE appointments. Officials hope to scale the model to 50 % by April and replicate it in Girona and Castellón, two other provinces plagued by appointment-scalping networks.
Amid these changes, VisaHQ’s dedicated Spain team (https://www.visahq.com/spain/) can help both employers and private applicants navigate the new landscape. The platform tracks appointment allocations in real time, reviews documentation for compliance and files paperwork directly with the authorities—offering a transparent, fixed-fee alternative to the costly intermediaries now being sidelined.
![Police Pilot Automated TIE-Appointment System in Catalonia to Crush ‘Cita Previa’ Black Market]()
Delegado del Gobierno Carlos Prieto says the initiative aims to “remove vulnerable migrants from the clutches of black-market brokers” and cut queues outside foreigners’ offices that have become flashpoints for protest. Early results are promising: when 1,400 automated slots were released this week, 56 remained unused—evidence, Prieto argues, that real demand is far lower than the artificially inflated market suggests.
For multinational HR teams, automated allocation could slash onboarding delays that often leave new hires in legal limbo for months. Companies should, however, prepare staff for short-notice appointments and ensure that medical insurance, padrón certificates and other required documents are ready as soon as a residence resolution is issued.
If the pilot succeeds, the Interior Ministry plans to extend automation to other high-demand foreigner services, including EU-family cards and Brexit-related residence renewals. That could finally consign the cita-pre-scam to history—though lawyers caution that any rollout must include robust cyber-security to prevent hackers from hijacking the new system.
Under the scheme, successful applicants receive an SMS or e-mail with a pre-booked slot within a week, covering roughly one-third of the province’s monthly 1,400 TIE appointments. Officials hope to scale the model to 50 % by April and replicate it in Girona and Castellón, two other provinces plagued by appointment-scalping networks.
Amid these changes, VisaHQ’s dedicated Spain team (https://www.visahq.com/spain/) can help both employers and private applicants navigate the new landscape. The platform tracks appointment allocations in real time, reviews documentation for compliance and files paperwork directly with the authorities—offering a transparent, fixed-fee alternative to the costly intermediaries now being sidelined.
Delegado del Gobierno Carlos Prieto says the initiative aims to “remove vulnerable migrants from the clutches of black-market brokers” and cut queues outside foreigners’ offices that have become flashpoints for protest. Early results are promising: when 1,400 automated slots were released this week, 56 remained unused—evidence, Prieto argues, that real demand is far lower than the artificially inflated market suggests.
For multinational HR teams, automated allocation could slash onboarding delays that often leave new hires in legal limbo for months. Companies should, however, prepare staff for short-notice appointments and ensure that medical insurance, padrón certificates and other required documents are ready as soon as a residence resolution is issued.
If the pilot succeeds, the Interior Ministry plans to extend automation to other high-demand foreigner services, including EU-family cards and Brexit-related residence renewals. That could finally consign the cita-pre-scam to history—though lawyers caution that any rollout must include robust cyber-security to prevent hackers from hijacking the new system.
