Spanish Allergy Card: How to Say Your
Food Allergy in Spanish

The phrase structure Spanish kitchens recognize

Spanish allergy communication runs through two everyday sentence patterns, plus one grammar detail worth knowing before you travel: Spanish marks the speaker's gender. Alérgico if you identify as male, alérgica if you identify as female. Both are common, both are understood everywhere, and getting the ending exactly right matters less than being understood at all — kitchen staff key on the allergen word, not the adjective.

For a severe allergy, two more sentences matter — these are the exact lines printed on the AllergyPass Spanish card:

Every major allergen in Spanish

These are the same terms the AllergyPass card prints — the words Spanish kitchen staff and packaged-food labels use, not dictionary translations:

One pronunciation note: in Castilian Spain, z and soft c are pronounced with a "th" sound (nuez sounds like "nweth"), while in Latin America the same letters sound like "s" (nuez sounds like "nwess"). Neither is wrong — restaurant staff on either side of the Atlantic will understand both.

How to say gluten-free in Spanish

Gluten-free in Spanish is sin gluten, and unlike many destinations outside the EU, the phrase carries real regulatory weight. Spain follows the EU's mandatory allergen framework, Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, which requires restaurants to disclose the 14 legally recognized EU allergens — gluten included — on request, enforced domestically by AESAN, Spain's national food safety agency. That's a meaningfully stronger legal baseline than many destinations outside Europe.

Two nuances are still worth knowing. First, sin gluten on a menu doesn't guarantee a dedicated fryer or prep surface: our food allergies in Spain guide covers how shared fryers and bread served automatically at the table create cross-contamination risk even at restaurants that offer gluten-free options. Second, for celiac disease specifically, name the condition directly rather than relying on the preference-sounding sin gluten: Tengo enfermedad celíaca, debo evitar todo el gluten incluso en pequeñas cantidades ("I have celiac disease, I must avoid all gluten, even in small amounts") is the line the AllergyPass card prints, since it communicates that trace amounts matter in a way sin gluten alone doesn't. Spain's celiac federation, FACE (celiacos.org), maintains a certified restaurant guide and a certification mark worth looking for on menus.

One more thing worth knowing: this vocabulary isn't Spain-specific. Spanish spans Spain and Latin America, and the core allergen words — gluten, cacahuetes, mariscos, and the rest — are essentially the same across both. A card built for Spain works, with only minor regional variation, from Mexico City to Buenos Aires.

Why written Spanish beats spoken Spanish

Spanish is a native language across more than twenty countries, and that familiarity cuts both ways for travelers: a shaky accent or the wrong grammatical ending is easy for a busy server to mishear, especially over the noise of a tapas bar at peak service. A written card removes that ambiguity entirely — the exact allergen word and the exact warning reach the kitchen exactly as intended, with nothing lost to accent, speed, or a half-heard sentence. Our Spain guide covers exactly where that risk concentrates — shared fryers, communal serving plates, bread that arrives before you've ordered — and our translation card guide breaks down why the written approach outperforms spoken requests generally.

Frequently asked questions

How do you say food allergy in Spanish?

Food allergy in Spanish is alergia alimentaria. The sentence Spanish kitchens recognize is Soy alérgico a [allergen] if you identify as male, or Soy alérgica a [allergen] if you identify as female — both mean "I am allergic to [allergen]." You'll also hear Tengo alergia a ..., "I have an allergy to..." For example, a peanut allergy is Soy alérgico/a a los cacahuetes. For anything severe, put it in writing: a card handed to staff removes any doubt about which word or ending you meant.

How do you say gluten-free in Spanish?

Gluten-free is sin gluten, and it carries real legal weight in Spain: EU Regulation 1169/2011 requires restaurants to disclose all 14 mandatory EU allergens, gluten included, on request. That's a stronger baseline than many destinations. Still, sin gluten on a menu doesn't guarantee a dedicated fryer, since shared fryers and bread served automatically at the table are common cross-contamination sources. For celiac disease specifically, say Tengo enfermedad celíaca, debo evitar todo el gluten — naming the condition, not just the preference, is what gets kitchens to take trace amounts seriously.

Do restaurants in Spain accept written allergy cards?

Yes — a written Spanish-language card performs better than a spoken request, especially in a loud, fast-moving tapas bar where a verbal explanation is easy to mishear. Show the card before ordering, not after the first dish arrives, and ask directly about shared fryers, since cross-contamination — not hidden ingredients — is the main risk in Spanish tapas dining. The same vocabulary works across Latin America too, since Spanish allergen terms are essentially consistent between Spain and the Americas.