Indian Passport stolen in Barcelona, need to get back to Stockholm from where a week later flight to India is booked

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Accepted answer

Below is from the Embassy's website. You will need to go to Madrid but there are other things you need to do too, like filing a police report.

i. If your passport is lost or stolen you must immediately report this to your nearest police station (Comisaría) and file a report (denuncia).

ii. After filed a police report, you are required to personally visit Embassy of India, Madrid, for obtaining replacement passport or Emergency Certificate to continue with their travel out of Spain. The procedure with regard to issue of Emergency Certificate & Duplicate Passport are as follows:

PROCEDURE FOR ISSUE OF EMERGENCY CERTIFICATE IN LIEU OF LOST PASSPORT:

In the event of loss of passport in the case of an Indian tourist who wishes to return directly to India, he/she may opt for getting an Emergency Certificate issued (which is a one time travel document valid for only one journey to a destination in India). The journey is possible with a connecting flight without need to leave the airport at intermediate country. Emergency Certificate will be issued on same day. The procedure for issue of an Emergency Certificate is as follows:

Emergency Certificate checklist

PROCEDURE FOR ISSUE OF DUPLICATE PASSPORT IN LIEU OF LOST PASSPORT:

In the event of loss of passport in the case of an Indian tourist who wishes to travel to a country other than India, he/she will be issued a passport. Passports are printed in India. The procedure for issue of a Duplicate Passport is as follows:

Passport application checklist

Please Note:

  • Please bear in mind this facility is applicable only for Indian nationals who are visiting Spain temporarily for purpose of tourism or business.

  • Issue of duplicate passport/one way travel document depends on the confirmation of authencity of the previous passport, nationality and
    clear police verification reports etc. The processing may take longer time in case we have to seek clarification/confirmation from other
    PIOs/Missions.

  • You may need to arrange a new flight to allow you time to obtain a travel document.

Upvote:10

Summary and solution of the ordeal

After obtaining the Police Report it was too late so went back and booked the same hotel. Rushed to the Barcelona consulate for some ID letters, instead they suggested me to try my luck with the airlines which didn't happen. No airlines allowed me to fly based on the Police Report and the document printouts I had.

Took the afternoon train to Madrid and booked AirBnB near Usera in Madrid. Went to Indian Embassy the next day and after a lot of hassle(since I had no CASH(15-Euros) to pay for the Emergency certificates, for which the Embassy DEMANDED that I give them the same in a written affidavit) got my Emergency Certificates(WHITE PASSPORT valid for a month).

Paid $180 extra and rescheduled my Stockholm Emirates tickets from Madrid (to Bengaluru via Dubai) and flew back to India. Also I was advised to take either direct flights or flights via GULF countries and strictly AVOID via LONDON.

Some friends even suggested train route from Madrid to Stockholm(almost 25+ hrs with ID checks at borders). Multiple trains, random ID checks and almost 500 euros trip was not consoling for me :)

Also initially when asked for an ID to travel back to Sweden, the Indian Embassy said their ID letter to an India lady with a similar case(passport stolen in Barcelona), who wanted to fly to Sweden didn't work. Airlines didn't allow her to fly back to Sweden. This was a day before I went to the Embassy. I am not sure if there are any lucky devils who pulled it off. Document checks are very strict for Indians.

NOTE TO INDIANS: As an Indian we expect people of Indian Embassy to be KIND towards us. But please DON'T make that MISTAKE. They are ruthless in their execution. They will make you realize that you have committed THE BIGGEST CRIME BY LOSING YOUR PASSPORT. I was wandering for 15 euros and a couple of euros for that automated photo-vending machine. ATMs are rare and I was not even sure if my card would work for cash withdrawal. I offered to pay an Indian staff personnel via PayPal in exchange for some cash, but in vain. Finally got help from some restaurant, swiped card for coffee and some cash. Spaniards were helpful and that wiped off all my grudge :0)

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