Spain does not have a system to issue personalised licence plates.  It does however have a system to identify and recognise Classic Cars.  Cars that qualify can achieve the status of being certified as a ‘historical vehicle’.  Classic Cars with this status can be registered with historical licence plates, so the owner can enjoy the kudos of having their beloved motor officially recognised and marked as a Classic Car.

Getting ‘historical vehicle’ status for a Classic Car, also brings with the added perks of cheaper insurance, longer gaps between ITV´s and road tax exemption.

The starting qualifying criteria is the age of the car, the qualifying age being 30 years.  The age for a Classic Car in Spain used to be 25 years, however was changed to 30 years in May 2018.  This change was not retrospective.  Classic Cars that already had historical number plates kept them, so there are cars with these plates that are less then 30 years old.

The DGT has a page of frequently asked questions relating to driving and the Coronavirus state of alarm here in Spain.

You can read the FAQ’s here: http://www.dgt.es/es/covid-19/ under the tab, ‘Preguntas Frecuentes’, and we have translated some of the key ones below:

Questions about driving licenses

Can I drive with an expired licence?

A licence which expires during the state of alarm will be automatically extended for the duration of the alarm and until sixty days thereafter.

I am a foreign driver, how does this situation affect me?

You can continue driving in the same way as before the alarm situation was declared.  In addition, the duration of the alarm situation does not count towards the six-month period in which you can drive in Spain with your foreign licence.  The calculation of the six-month period is frozen, resuming as soon as the state of alarm ends.

‘Semana Blanca’ and ‘dia de Andalucia’ (white week and Andalusia day), are a school holiday week in Málaga and a regional holiday in Andalucia.

Semana Blanca

During ‘Semana Blanca’ the majority of the schools are closed for a week to ‘catch up’ with the number of  the number of school days off for public holidays, compared to the rest of Spain.

Every province or region in Spain has their own traditions and festivities for which schools are closed.  Some places have a few less public holidays than others, so to be fair to students in Málaga, they give extra time off in ‘la Semana Blanca’ to balance things out.

Why is it called Semana Blanca?

Boris Johnson and his Conservative Party swept to victory in a decisive election outcome, winning on the promise to ‘Get Brexit Done’.  His withdrawal agreement wasvoted through, and albeit with a handful of challenges, the Bill was passed.

The agreement has now been signed by both sides, and will be passed by EU parliament.  The deadlock surrounding Brexit, and a lot of uncertainty has now come to an end.

The UK will be leaving the EU on the 31st January, with ‘a deal’. Brexit is going to happen. But those who voted Conservative because they just want to ‘get Brexit done’, need to think again if they are feeling relieved and think that it’s now all done and dusted.

A Place in the Sun is one of the UK’s most highly recognised names when it comes to property abroad and overseas lifestyle, and the A Place in the Sun magazine is always full of features and top tips help people with their property searches and plans for their life abroad, be that a holiday home a permanent move.

In the current issue, we’ve provided an editorial feature in the Ask the Experts section, offering a insight into the important considerations and steps to becoming a Spanish resident.

As Brexit draws closer, the subject is all the more poignant.  And for Brits planning to move to Spain, those here already who are thinking about taking up Spanish residency, the article is a must read.

Also of interest in the issue

Can you buy two homes for a budget of £150,000 on the eastern Costa del Sol?

With Brexit creeping closer, valuable information to help you prepare for the transition period next year (and/or beyond).

Why and how it’s not too late to find your perfect home in the next six months.

The magazine is available in stores and online now.

When buying holiday money or sending money abroad, many banks and brokers include hidden fees and or a mark-up in the exchange rate.  Not surprising, a recent study into international money transfers and payments found that 75% of consumers do not know about, or do not understand currency exchange rate mark-ups.

In recent years specialised currency exchange companies have broken the monopoly on the supply of currency exchange services.  Banks and high street exchanges are no longer the go to choice for changing currency.

These currency exchange companies deliver much more competitive exchange rates to consumers, more personalised service, and faster transfer times than banks offer. It’s no surprise than savvy overseas property buyers and expats choose these companies to get a better deal.

A high street bank may seem like the easy or convenient option, and may be your choice through habit, however using a specialist foreign currency exchange company is just as easy and more importantly works out much cheaper!

Police in Spain are becoming much more proactive in taking action and removing UK registered cars that don’t have MOT or tax paid, from public roads. By law they are perfectly justified in doing this, though it seems there are examples where their assertiveness has been spilling over into over zealousness and they have been removing completely road legal cars from the road as well.

Based on the cases we’ve seen, it appears that where the online vehicle check, for example on an MOT returns ‘no details held’, the Police are assuming “guilty until proven innocent”.  The DVLA register of course doesn’t hold MOT details for most cars under 3 years as an MOT isn’t required, so unfortunate drivers of relatively new UK registered cars are being grossly inconvenienced.

What to do if you UK registered car is taken by Police in Spain?