Fastest TIE Offices in Spain: Choose the Right One and Save Months

The single most impactful decision in the entire TIE process — and the one almost nobody makes deliberately — is which police station you get fingerprinted at.

Most people book the first available slot without comparing offices. That mistake can cost months. We track every office daily and the speed differences are extreme: in Madrid alone, the fastest office processes cards 32 times faster than the slowest.

If you haven’t been fingerprinted yet, this page could save you months of waiting. If you already have, use this data to understand what to expect.

Not sure what a lote number is? Start with What Is a Lote? first.

The Top 20 Fastest Offices in Spain

Ranked by average processing speed over the most recent 3 weeks. Speed is measured in lotes processed per day — higher = faster.

Rank	Office	Province	3-week lotes	Speed/day	Est. wait
1	CNP Poblados	Madrid	64	3.56	~2 weeks
2	CNP Patraix	Valencia	48	2.67	~3 weeks
3	CNP Marítimo	Valencia	48	2.67	~3 weeks
4	CNP Murcia	Murcia	48	2.67	~3 weeks
5	Oficina Melilla	Melilla	22	2.00	~4 weeks
6	CNP Bilbao	Bizkaia	33	1.94	~4 weeks
7	CNP Rambla Guipúscoa	Barcelona	33	1.83	~4 weeks
8	CNP Alcobendas	Madrid	30	1.67	~4 weeks
9	CNP Torrejón de Ardoz	Madrid	30	1.67	~4 weeks
10	Documentación Sevilla	Sevilla	23	1.64	~4 weeks
11	CNP Tortosa	Tarragona	25	1.56	~5 weeks
12	CNP Reus	Tarragona	24	1.50	~5 weeks
13	CNP Fuengirola	Málaga	24	1.41	~5 weeks
14	CNP Maspalomas	Las Palmas	19	1.36	~5 weeks
15	CNP Castellón	Castellón	21	1.40	~5 weeks
16	CNP Guadalajara	Guadalajara	21	1.40	~5 weeks
17	CNP Lugo	Lugo	13	1.30	~5 weeks
18	CNP Segovia	Segovia	14	1.27	~6 weeks
19	CNP Cuenca	Cuenca	19	1.27	~6 weeks
20	CNP Alicante	Alicante	16	1.11	~6 weeks

Where Your Choice Matters Most

In some provinces, all offices move at roughly the same speed — your choice doesn’t matter much. In others, picking the wrong office can mean waiting 6 months instead of 2 weeks. The table below shows provinces where the internal speed spread is largest.

Province	Offices	Fastest	Slowest	Speed ratio
Madrid	21	3.56/day	0.00 (frozen)	32x
Murcia	5	2.67/day	0.33/day	8x
Lugo	3	1.30/day	0.00 (frozen)	∞
Valencia	5	2.67/day	0.61/day	4x
Málaga	6	1.41/day	0.33/day	4x
Tarragona	4	1.56/day	0.38/day	4x
Barcelona	15	1.83/day	0.00 (frozen)	∞

If your province isn’t listed, it either has very few offices (no choice to make) or the speed difference is small (any office is roughly equivalent).

Madrid: 21 Offices, 32x Speed Difference

Madrid has the most offices and the most extreme speed variation in Spain. Choosing carefully here has the highest payoff.

Office	Speed/day	3-week lotes	Est. wait	Verdict
Poblados	3.56	64	~2 weeks	🟢 Fastest in Spain
Alcobendas	1.67	30	~4 weeks	🟢 Reliable
Torrejón de Ardoz	1.67	30	~4 weeks	🟢 Reliable
Pozuelo de Alarcón	1.50	27	~5 weeks	🟢 Good
Coslada	1.11	21	~6 weeks	🟡 Medium
Alcorcón	0.94	17	~8 weeks	🟡 Medium
Parla	0.83	15	~9 weeks	🟡 Medium
Leganés	0.74	14	~10 weeks	🟡 Slow
Aranjuez	0.68	13	~10 weeks	🟡 Slow
Fuenlabrada	0.58	11	~12 weeks	🔴 Very slow
Majadahonda	0.50	9	~14 weeks	🔴 Very slow
San Felipe	0.26	5	~27 weeks	🔴 Near-stalled
Colmenar Viejo	0.22	4	~32 weeks	🔴 Near-stalled
Alcalá de Henares	0.17	3	~42 weeks	🔴 Near-stalled
Collado Villalba	0.17	3	~42 weeks	🔴 Near-stalled
Las Rozas	0.17	3	~42 weeks	🔴 Near-stalled
Móstoles	0.17	3	~42 weeks	🔴 Near-stalled
Rivas Vaciamadrid	0.17	3	~42 weeks	🔴 Near-stalled
Arganda del Rey	0.11	2	~64 weeks	🔴 Near-stalled
Getafe	0.00	0	∞	⚫ Frozen 84 days
Santa Engracia	0.00	0	∞	⚫ Frozen 84 days

Bottom line: If you’re registered in Madrid and can get to Poblados, book there. A 2-week wait versus 42+ weeks at Móstoles or 84+ days of nothing at Getafe — same card, same process, vastly different outcome.

On August 11, Madrid had one of its biggest days this month: 7 offices advanced simultaneously (+78 lotes total), with Poblados alone jumping +36. This confirms that Madrid receives cards in batch deliveries.

Barcelona: 15 Offices, 3 Frozen

Office	Speed/day	3-week lotes	Verdict
Rambla Guipúscoa	1.83	33	🟢 Fastest
Cornellà	1.50	27	🟢 Reliable
Sant Adrià	1.47	25	🟢 Reliable
Granollers	1.29	22	🟢 Good
L’Hospitalet	1.28	23	🟢 Good
Sant Feliu	1.18	20	🟢 Good
Vilanova	0.93	14	🟡 Medium
Igualada	0.88	14	🟡 Medium
El Prat	0.76	13	🟡 Medium
Viladecans	0.76	13	🟡 Medium
Badalona	0.74	14	🟡 Medium
Vilafranca	0.47	7	🔴 Slow
Santa Coloma	0.00	0	⚫ Frozen 63 days
Terrassa	0.00	0	⚫ Frozen 32 days
Sant Boi	0.00	0	⚫ Frozen 27 days

Bottom line: Rambla Guipúscoa is Barcelona’s best option — and also the most searched office in the province (381 queries in 28 days). The metropolitan offices (Cornellà, Sant Adrià, L’Hospitalet) are solid alternatives. Avoid Terrassa, Santa Coloma, and Sant Boi — all frozen.

Valencia: 5 Offices, Consistently Fast

Valencia is one of the fastest provinces in Spain, with all offices active and moving.

Office	Speed/day	3-week lotes	Verdict
Patraix	2.67	48	🟢 #2 in Spain
Marítimo	2.67	48	🟢 #3 in Spain
Sagunto	0.82	14	🟡 Medium
Torrent	0.71	11	🟡 Medium
Gandía	0.61	10	🟡 Slower

Bottom line: Patraix and Marítimo are interchangeable — both are top 3 nationally. If neither has available appointments, Sagunto is a reasonable fallback.

How to Use This Data

If you haven’t been fingerprinted yet

1. Check the table for your province above (or check the live tracker for provinces not listed here)
2. Identify the fastest office with available appointments
3. Book at that office, even if it’s farther from your home — the travel time is nothing compared to months of extra waiting
4. Important: whichever office you choose for fingerprinting is also where you must pick up your card. No transfers allowed.

If you’re already waiting

Your office is already locked in. But this data still helps you:

• Estimate your wait → use Check your lote for a personalized calculation
• Understand the pattern → is your office a steady processor or a burst processor? Burst offices can go quiet for days, then advance 20-50 lotes at once. This is normal, not a sign of problems.
• Watch for freeze-to-burst patterns → offices that freeze for 2+ weeks often come back with a large batch. It’s frustrating, but historical data shows frozen offices do resume.

Speed changes over time

Office speeds are not constant. An office that was fast last month can slow down or freeze without warning. Conversely, frozen offices can resume with a large burst. This data reflects the most recent 3 weeks — for historical context, check your province’s weekly report.

What About Appointment Availability?

The fastest office means nothing if you can’t get an appointment there. In practice:

• Madrid Poblados — fast processing, but appointments are scarce. Check the booking system daily, early morning.
• Barcelona Rambla Guipúscoa — high demand, limited slots. L’Hospitalet and Cornellà are good alternatives.
• Valencia — generally easier to get appointments than Madrid or Barcelona.

We don’t track appointment availability (that changes hourly on the ICP booking system). But we do track the result: how fast each office actually processes cards once you’ve been fingerprinted.

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Data current as of August 13, 2026 · Based on 5,590 snapshots across 134 offices · Updated regularly

Related: Processing Times by Province · What Is a Lote? · Card Pickup · How to Apply · Live Tracker →