A SPANISH passport is now jointly in the third slot for the 'strongest' in the world, more so than many others in the European Union, allowing visa-free entry to 189 countries.
According to the latest Henley Passport index, for the forthcoming year, Spanish citizens can get into 41 countries just with their DNI, or national ID card, and can now enter three more without a visa than they could this time last year.
Passports issued to citizens of Japan and Singapore are the most 'powerful' on the planet, allowing visa-free access to 192 countries, followed by those from Germany and South Korea, with 190 nations allowing entry to their holders purely by showing the document.
Spain is level-pegging with Finland, Italy and Luxembourg, the third rung from the top at 189 countries.
Fourth, with 188 countries, are Austria, Denmark, France, The Netherlands and Sweden, whilst Ireland and Portugal are fifth with 187.
The UK joins New Zealand, Belgium, Norway, Switzerland and the USA in the sixth slot, with visa-free access to 186 countries, ahead of Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Greece and Malta, at number seven, with 185.
As for the least 'versatile' passports, citizens of Afghanistan can currently only get into 26 countries without a visa; those of Iraq, 28; Syria, 29; Pakistan, 31 and Yemen, 33.
The others that provide access to 40 or fewer countries are Bangladesh, Kosovo and Libya (40); North Korea (39); Nepal and Palestine (37), and Somalia (34).
For Spanish nationals, though, there are still 38 countries they need a visa to get into.
Most of these – 23 – are on the continent of Africa, being Algeria, Angola, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chat, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, the Côte d'Ivoire (formerly known, in English, as the Ivory Coast, but which now only goes by its official name in French), Djibouti, Eritrea, Ghana, Guinea-Conakry, Kenya, Liberia, Libya, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sudan and South Sudan.
Curiously, one of the 23 nations in Africa for which a Spanish passport alone is not enough for entry is Equatorial Guinea, the only sub-Saharan country which was once a colony of Spain and where Spanish is one of the official national languages.
The same is the case with Cuba, a former Spanish colony and Spanish-speaking country which requires a visa from citizens of the 'mother nation' wanting to enter.
In Oceania, only Nauru requires a visa, whilst most of the others where a passport is not sufficient on its own for Spaniards are in Asia – Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Mongolia, North Korea, Turkmenistan, Syria, and Yemen.
Perhaps surprisingly, two countries in Europe – although, clearly, not in the EU – require a visa for Spanish nationals to enter.
Russia stipulates a maximum stay of one calendar month and for 'recreational purposes' only, with a visa required to be sought in advance at a cost of €58.
As it can take at least a week to arrive, those who cannot wait will need to pay for an 'express' Russian visa at €100.
Azerbaijan also needs Spanish nationals to apply for a visa via their embassy or consulate – prices vary by nationality of visitor, but for Spaniards is around €25.
Although many other countries do require a visa for all or most nationalities, these are granted on arrival, meaning they are, effectively, just a passport stamp with a fee.
Among them are Cambodia, Mozambique, Ethiopia, and Burkina Faso.
Others automatically provide a free-of-charge eVisa for visitors, such as the USA and Australia, whilst some give travellers the choice between getting a visa on arrival at a dedicated airport desk, or online just before.
The free eVisa, or no visa at all, is the situation for all of the Americas except Cuba, Surinam which requires an online visa, and Guyane Française, which is an overseas territory of France and therefore considered part of the EU and the Schengen zone.
Spain is part of the Schengen, so travelling within this borderless area of Europe does not require a passport or ID card, except for checking passengers' names match up with airline, coach, train or ferry tickets, where appropriate.
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