A parking space recognition system includes an external environment information acquiring device and a parking space candidate detecting device. The parking space candidate detecting device includes: a virtual line calculating unit configured to calculate a virtual line connecting road side ends of parking space lines adjacent to each other; an angle calculating unit configured to calculate an angle between the virtual line and one of the parking space lines; a parking type determining unit configured to determine a parking type; and a parking space candidate setting unit configured to set at least one provisional parking space in an area between the parking space lines based on positions of the parking space lines, and to set an available parking area among the provisional parking space to the parking space candidate.