Taking Your Dog or Cat from the UK to Spain

You’d think taking your pet to Spain from England without flying would be a fairly simple affair. And in honesty it is… so long as you have your own transport, and you and your dog and/or cat like spending vast periods of time sitting in the same seat and staring at tarmacadam. So, if you are taking your dog or cat to Spain and if you have your own transport, then you can pretty much choose your method. Today, this article by ShBarcelona will tell you more about how to get to Spain from the UK with your beloved pet.

Related article: The First Dog Beach in Barcelona!

By ferry

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Taking your dog or cat to Spain via ferry from the UK via France involves a swift crossing. DFDS Seaways has different routes and prices. For example: Dover-Dunkirk for £54 (each way), including your car, pet and upto nine people, or Newhaven-Dieppe for £96 (each way), including your car, dog or cat and upto four people. However, when you factor in the travel time all the way through expensive France and the fact your hairy kids might not appreciate travelling for hours every day, then it’s somewhat of a false economy. The ferry route directly to Spain is attractive, because you miss out France completely and spend more or less 20 hours on a ferry. Plus, if you go with Brittany Ferries on the Cap Finistere – the newest vessel in the fleet – which runs between Portsmouth and Bilbao, then they have pet-friendly cabins and an area for walking your dog. However, you can’t travel on any of these ferries as a foot passenger. If you are travelling with a vehicle the costs are high, but if you look at the cost of fuel and factor in buying food on the road and the discomfort your pet will feel when bombing along French motorways for many hours a day, whilst its carers gradually begin to loathe each other out of boredom, then it might be worth spending the extra money.

Ferries to France

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You can travel with your vehicle on P&O Ferries to France between Dover and Calais for a price of £22 (each way) per pet. Always check P&O Ferries requirements before you leave the house. You don’t want to discover anything missing – passport, vaccination, etcetera – while waiting in line to embark the ferry. Unfortunately, P&O Ferries no longer allows foot passengers with pets, but being on foot you would still have the problem of getting you and the four-footed one all across France to whatever part of Spain you are headed for. That’s a new problem altogether as only very small dogs are allowed on Spanish long- or medium-distance trains. Click here for more info on travelling by train in Spain with your pet.

Related article: Pet-Friendly Barcelona

By Eurotunnel

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If you want to take your dog or cat to Spain via Eurotunnel, you can travel with your pet and remain together in your vehicle. The crossing takes just 35 minutes and costs from around £19 (each way) per pet. This is the least traumatic method of travelling from the UK to France with your dog or cat.

So the conclusion is that there are several methods of taking your pet to Spain, depending on means of transport, price and travel duration; the most comfortable method is taking a ferry to the north of Spain in your own vehicle and the methods that are least stressful for your dog or cat are either a ferry directly to Spain on the Cap Finistere vessel or via Eurotunnel.

Did you bring your cat or dog with you on your holiday? Any advice?