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.

Vehicle Questions

What happens if the ITV expires during the state of alarm?

If your vehicle’s ITV has expired during the period of alarm, it will be considered temporarily extended, and you can drive without any problem for the duration of this exceptional period.

Also remember that ITV centres will be closed for the duration of the state of alarm.

Can I take my car to the workshop for repair?

Yes, the opening of motor vehicle repair and maintenance workshops is permitted, as well as complementary services for vehicles with special authorisation to be driven. However, we recommend that you first contact the chosen workshop to make sure it’s open.

Can I rent a vehicle from a hire company?

Yes, the establishments dedicated to the leasing of vehicles remain open, although remember travel on public roads is subject to certain restrictions.  See below for the circumstances in which you are allowed to drive.

Questions about Driving

In which circumstances can I drive?

In general, it is prohibited to drive on public roads during the period of the alarm state. You can only drive, if it is to carry out any of the following activities:

1.       Acquisition of food, pharmaceuticals and basic necessities.
2.       For assistance at health centres, services and establishments.
3.       Travel to the workplace to carry out your usual work, professional or business.
4.       Return to the place of habitual residence.
5.       Assistance and care for the elderly, minors, dependants, people with disabilities or especially vulnerable people.
6.       Visiting financial and insurance entities.
7.       Due to force majeure / unforeseen circumstance beyond your control.

Any other activity of a similar nature must be done individually, unless the accompanying people are those with disabilities or there is other justified cause.

Which vehicles are exempt from the traffic limitation during the alarm state?

There are vehicles that by their nature need to continue to provide service during this exceptional period that we live. These vehicles may circulate without the limitation to which the rest are subjected.

How many people can travel in a car?

The private public transport of people in vehicles of up to nine seats, including the driver, in which more than one person must travel in the vehicle, will respect that there is a maximum of one person for each row of seats, maintaining the greatest possible distance between occupants.

In the case of freight, are restrictions on movement still in force?

No, due to the exceptional state we are in, restrictions on movement for the transport of goods are temporarily suspended and while the state of alarm lasts.

Specifically, restrictions are suspended for :

• Transportation of goods in general, whose maximum authorised mass exceeds 7,500 kg.
• The transport of dangerous goods.
• Special vehicles that due to their technical characteristics or due to the indivisible load transported, exceed the values ​​of the masses or maximum dimensions allowed

Questions about service in DGT offices

Are the headquarters and traffic offices open? How can I carry out my procedures?

Offices will be temporarily closed to the public for the duration of the state of alarm, cancelling appointments that were previously assigned.

Although you cannot go in person to our offices, the DGT provides the option of accessing practically all of its procedures electronically, ask if it is possible to carry out your procedure through its online services, electronic registration or telephone.

Check the online service catalog at the electronic headquarters

What will happen with my appointment?

In-person services for carrying out procedures at Traffic Headquarters has been temporarily suspended for the duration of the state of alarm.

All appointments at DGT offices have been cancelled through email sent to those with assigned appointments. Once normal activity is resumed, the system will reactivate.

IVTM Impuesto sobre Vehículos de Tracción Mecánica is Spanish vehicle tax, the equivalent of what we refer to in the UK as road tax.

Almost all cars registered in Spain are subject to this vehicle tax, and it’s administered and collect locally by the Town Hall.   If you aren’t familiar with the vehicle tax system in Spain, you’ll find the following useful, to understand it, if not to flag issues, get them resolved and avoid problems in the future.

If you own a Spanish registered vehicle, and by mid May haven’t received a bill for vehicle tax, or notification of payment, this could be an indication of a problem relating to details held by the DGT (Direccion General de Trafico) about the registered owner of the vehicle.

The following are some of the things we hear and questions we get asked about Spanish vehicle tax.

How much does it cost to register a UK or other EU vehicle on to Spanish number plates?  We get asked this question everyday, it’s constantly being asked on Facebook and forums, and whilst it’s not a straightforward one to answer, because there are many variables, here we provide an accurate as possible guide to the costs, along with simple explanations and some tips.

The cost to register a UK or other EU vehicle Spanish number plates

We break down the costs into what we call the T’s, and some may or may not apply depending on the car or your situation.

When taking up residence in Spain, there has always been a requirement to either exchange your UK driving licence for a Spanish driving licence, or at least register it with the Spanish traffic authority, the DGT (Direccion General de Trafico).

Now, due to Brexit, all UK licence holders living in Spain, must exchange their UK licence for a Spanish licence, if they wish to continue using it to drive in Spain after Brexit.

The following link takes you to a guide on how to do this provided by the DGT.

Canje de Permisos – Ingles

It is written in English, however, its not entirely clear, so we’ve summarised below the key points regarding the documents you’ll need and the process, based on our experience doing these.

As in the UK, Spain has a system to identify and recognise Classic Cars. Under Spanish rules, cars that meet the various criteria, can achieve the status of being of ‘historical’ and registered as Classic Car with ‘historical’ licence plates. with the owner being able to enjoy the kudos of having their beloved motor officially recognised and adorned with ‘H’ plates.

Historical status for a Classic Car in Spain, also brings with the added perks of cheaper insurance, longer gaps between ITV´s and road tax exemption. The main identifying criteria is the age of the car, and in May 2018, that was raised, from 25 years to 30 years.

Registering Classic Cars in Spain

The process of assigning a licence number to a classic car in Spain is more or less the same as that for a normal car.  However in most cases, the car will have to go through more vigorous checks before it can be passed.  There is no differentiation in regard to age of vehicle and licence number issued.  A 50 year old classic Ferrari, and a brand new Nissan Micra, could end up with consecutively numbered plates.

So unlike UK registrations which in general contain a year marker, it’s very difficult to gauge a Spanish registered car’s age from its licence plate.

From a classic car perspective, this means that, if you’re bringing your pride and joy 1964 Mercedes SL to Spain, when you register it, you will end up with a licence number that is just one digit different to hundreds of other regular new cars registered at the same time. Not great for prestige.

Much conflicting information circulates about how long you can keep and drive a UK registered car in Spain. Even the authorities themselves seem to be confused and give differing responses.

Referencing information from official publications, we aim to present a practical explanation to answer the question.

Contrary to popular belief that a UK registered car can only kept and legally be driven in Spain for 6 months, the actual length of time will ultimately be dictated by the following:

We get asked lots of questions about bringing UK registered cars to Spain, and whenever we write, share articles or info, the comments and replies that we get, reveal a lot of confusion. Mis-information abounds regarding driving UK registered cars in Spain, keeping them here, and switching them to Spanish number plates.

So we’ve compiled a list of the most prevalent myths and FAQ’s, and answered them with facts and other useful info.

Driving UK registered cars in Spain

Myth-Fact-Right-Wrong?  Click on the tabs to find out.

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?

Fill in your vehicle details below to check tax and MOT status online.

Note – In addition to the tax and MOT information above, the authorities in Spain can access the details of the registered keeper of the vehicle.