When you take up residence in Spain, you are required to either register your your UK driving licence with the Spanish traffic authority, the DGT (Direccion General de Trafico), or exchange it for a Spanish licence.

The following link takes you to a guide 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.

Documents

Passport (and copy must be in date)
Photo x 2 (ESP carnet size)
Original UK licence
Medical certificate (not needed in all cases)
Residency certificate (and copy of front and back)
Padron (certificado de empadronamiento (dated within the last 3 months)
National Insurance Number

Forms

DGT application
DVLA authorization
Photo document (provided when you present your application at DGT)

Process

Gather all your docs and get your photos.

Find a recognised centre to take your medical.  This is not mandatory, however without it your new Spanish licence will be valid only until the date you current UK photo card licence expires.  With the medical you will be issued a 10 year Spanish photo card licence.

Note:  If you have had your residency certificate for less than 1 year, your Spanish licence will be issued valid until either the 2 year anniversary of the date you got your residency, or the expiry date of your current photocard licence, whichever is sooner.

Book your appointment at the DGT on their website, or by calling 060.

Solictar Cita

Pay the fee.  This can be done online. Remember to save / print off the receipt. (Justificante de pago).

Pago de Tasas

Attend your appointment and present your application.  (Make sure when you sign the photo doc, that your signature is completely inside the box).  You will be issued with a temporary licence (valid 3 months) until original comes through.  This is can take anything from 4 – 12 weeks or more.  With the increase in UK licence exchange applications due to Brexit, we recommend you be prepared that your licence may take more than 12 weeks to arrive

You can check the progress of your licence exchange here:

Servicio de Conductores

UK driving licence Exchange – Made Easy®

IVTM Impuesto sobre Vehículos de Tracción Mecánica is the Spanish equivalent of UK vehicle tax.

Almost all cars registered to drive on the road in Spain, are subject to this tax, and if you perhaps aren’t familiar with the system or who otherwise may not have got things set up correctly, you’ll find the following useful, at least to understand it, if not to flag problems, get them resolved and avoid future hassle and unnecessary costs.

If you own a Spanish registered vehicle, and by mid May haven’t received a bill for IVTM, 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 IVTM.

Common Scenarios

FAQ’s

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.

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.

Vehicles driven on public roads in Spain, are subject to road tax, Impuesto Sobre Vehiculos de Traccion Mecanica, referred to as IVTM.  This road tax has a rate set by the municipal authorities, and will vary from area to area. IVTM is paid to the local authority and can be paid in person at the relevant Town Hall office (Ayuntamiento), at a bank or by direct debit.

The amount of road tax payable on a vehicle also varies according to the fiscal horsepower (potencia fiscal / caballos fiscales), which is a nominal amount not necessarily related to the actual engine power of a vehicle.

In the past, many people in Spain got away without paying IVTM for considerable periods of time. However, many municipalities are now manage collection of this road tax a lot more effectively, and have clamped down on non-payment.  Avoiders may find their Spanish bank account embargoed, or the vehicle can be impounded by local police. This can result in costly fines and payment of the outstanding amount of road tax to be made, before the car is released.

All Spanish-registered car’s are now automatically logged by the local municipality when ownership of the vehicle is registered with the provincial traffic department, and it is not possible to complete a change of ownership unless all road tax is up to date.

When you purchase a car in Spain, ask to see the receipts for the paid road tax, because, unpaid road tax is passed onto the new owner during vehicle transfer. This can leave you liable for any unpaid tax on that vehicle, relating to the previous owners.

If you own a foreign registered vehicle in Spain, Spanish road tax doesn’t apply. However if your vehicle doesn’t have the equivalent tax paid in the country where it’s registered, e.g. UK vehicle tax, it cannot legally be driven on roads in Spain, and the vehicle will be impounded if the authorities find it in an untaxed state on a public road.

Read our article Foreign Cars in Spain & Road Tax, to find out more.

Unlicensed drivers and most non-EU citizens are required to take a Spanish driving test, (written theory and practical),  in order to obtain a Spanish licence. Helpfully, in larger cities and places where a large part of the population is not from Spain, the test can be conducted in your native language.

There are many driving schools advertised in foreign language newspapers and magazines offering preparation for the Spanish test. If it is not available in your native tongue, you will have to take it in Spanish, and this can be challenging even for native speakers. The testing process is difficult and not cheap, the theory quite involved. You have three attempts to pass (this includes both the written and actual driving test) and then you have to pay additional fees for another three opportunities. The theory test consists of 40 questions, of which you can fail only three. So make sure if you sign up, you are prepared to dedicate considerable time to study and practice.

This can be a frustrating experience for drivers who have already held a driving license in their own country and been driving for many years.