When is Passport Needed Outside Airport?

I’ve traveled in Spain extensively, and entered my passport number countless times when buying tickets for attractions or transportation.

The only times I’ve been asked for the physical document was when checking into hotels and at the Alhambra.

Apart from when I anticipate needing it, I do not carry the document. Prepare for lectures from members of this community on the legal requirement to do so.

The safest place for your passport is secured on your person ( money belt or other)
It is your only legitimate form of ID and along with a credit card, it’s your ticket home.
It’s the most important possession when you are traveling.

Pickpockets don’t want your passport, they want your cash.

https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/trip-planning/travel-documents

Spain requires you to carry official ID (with a picture) on your person at all times. A valid drivers license with a picture is acceptable as official ID. So, in other words, you need to carry your passport or your drivers license. The law states that a notarized copy of either of these is NOT acceptable, it must be the actual document.

Also, if you used your passport number to purchase anything, you may need to show the original to confirm it, so I would carry your passport when you plan to use any tickets that you used your passport number for - just to be on the safe side.

We are in Seville right now.At the Alcazar, they checked our tickets and passports both.Our guide alerted us that they’re getting stricter last two weeks. In Madrid, the Royal Palace checked our passports against our tickets bought for tour.

While this has little to do with your visit to Spain, for whatever reason, the French Open required its employees to look at international ticket holders’ passports as ID verification every time we entered a stadium.

This seems to explain it pretty well from a legal perspective.

https://www.spanishsolutions.net/legal-issues-in-spain/carrying-id-in-spain/

From a practical point of view, the passport might be better than a drivers' license.

For the 65+ crowd, when we asked for the special price for senior citizen (museums,...) they asked for confirmation ID (passport).

Thank you everyone for the quick replies. I appreciate all the first-hand experiences!

The question I always ask for this question and other similar situations. Is it better to have it and not need it OR to need it and not have it??? You decide. There are consequences for either decision.

In forty plus years of European travel, we have unexpectedly been asked to produce our passport on three occasions. Once when traveling on a bus in Germany on the autobahn, two police cars pulled the bus into an exit ramp. Came on board and said, "Passports please." Checked all passports and pull one guy off. Another time were in a small (8 of us) guided tour van in Turkey on a country road. Hit a road block, heavily armed military ordered every off the bus and checked passports. Then looked through the van. They were not real friendly. Said Thank you and we all left. Every the tour guide had no idea what the reason for the stop might be or what they were looking for. I have no idea what might have happen if I had shown them a CO driver's license. It is not hard or inconvenient to always carry the passport. So we just carry it. What is the big deal?

If any of your purchases entitles you to a VAT refund, having your passport enables the store clerk to fill out the paperwork.

If any of your purchases entitles you to a VAT refund, having your passport enables the store clerk to fill out the paperwork.

Good point, but I've never had any problem presenting a copy or photo of my passport's information page.

In addition to the cases mentioned above (Alhambra, museum entry for 65+ traveling companions, hotel/apartment check-in), we've also had to show passports for some train boardings.

Also, at the cathedral in Toledo last December, I had to leave an ID as a "security deposit" when renting an audioguide; I left my driver's license.

I’m over 65 and other than immigration, hotels, and the rental car counter, I haven’t been asked to show it, not even for the concessions price. I do however carry it with me most of the time.

My wife and I had to show ours to enter a heavily guarded synagogue in Athens in 2015. That and the examples others have provided tell me that it's advisable to keep it with you. I use a neck wallet. Of course, most days abroad I don't need it at all, but it's good to have in case of anything unexpected. My wife and I each keep a copy of the other's passport face page, to help with replacement in case it's lost.