The are quite a few steps and costs involved to import and register and car from a non-EU country in Spain.

First and foremost EU conformity, import and registration costs must be taken into account as these can make the import and registration in Spain impossible or too expensive to be worth while.

This said, under EU rules if you are moving from a non-EU country to live in an EU country, such as Spain, you can bring your possessions including cars, and avoid paying the costly duties and taxes and having to pay for expensive EU conformity certification.

These transfer of residence rules give you up to12 months form the date you get your residency to import your car and avoid paying customs and VAT.  However you only have 60 days from the date you take up residency, to register your car and avoid registration tax (if it applies).  

Importing a high value car from the UK in Spain post Brexit, now comes with added costs.  As the UK is no longer in the EU and the standard process to import and register a UK car in Spain now involves customs.

This means on top of the registration tax which in most cases will be 17% of the vehicle value, 10% customs duty and 21% VAT will apply, unless you can find away around it.

Paying nearly £50k to register a £100k motor is simply not a consideration.  There are however various ways these huge costs can be avoided, bringing the cost of importing and registering high value cars in Spain down to a few thousand Euros, rather than tens of thousands.

Spain’s Golden Visa offers residency to individuals who make a real estate investment in Spain of €500,000 or more.  The Golden Visa scheme has been in existence since September 2013 when legislation for the ‘residency by investment scheme’ was passed.  The aim being to attract foreign investors at a time when the economy of Spain was not in a very good place.  Since it’s inception, over 25,000 foreign investors have benefited from the scheme.

The scheme is open to nationals from non-EU or third countries, and has so far been most popular with investors from China, Russia and the USA.

What does Spain’s Golden Visa Offer Property Investors?

Nationals of non-EU countries require a visa to enter Spain, if the stay is intended to be more than 90 days.  The Schengen visa in most cases cannot be used to apply for residency in Spain.

There is an exception when an immediate family member is joining a family member who already lives in Spain and holds Spanish residency.   In all other circumstances a citizen of a non-EU country must apply for, and obtain a long stay visa through the Spanish Embassy in their home country.

Since UK has now left the EU, UK citizens / British nationals also have to apply for a visa if they want to live or work in Spain.

Once the visa has been issued, the applicant can travel to Spain and apply for residency and get their TIE, ‘tarjeta de identidad de extranjero‘.

The following is a summary of the main types of long stay visas that citizens of non-EU countries can apply for.

In Spain, the periodic road worthiness inspection, is the ITV. (Inspeccion Tecnica de Vehiculos – Vehicle Technical Inspection).  Like the UK MoT test, it’s mandatory for all road going vehicles, and driving without a valid ITV can result in fines.

When Does The ITV have to be done?

The frequency of the ITV test depends on the age and type of vehicle.  New cars are first tested after 4 years and must be inspected every 2 years thereafter, until they reach 10 years of age. Any car over 10 years of age has to be tested annually.

Motorcycles, mopeds and quad bikes are first tested after 5 years, after which the test is due every 2 years. Caravans are first tested at 6 years, after which the test is due every 2 years.

If a vehicle has been involved in a serious accident, it also has to undergo an ITV assessment after being repaired, to confirm its road worthiness.

The Convenio Especial is Social Security scheme which allows individuals who don’t otherwise qualify Spanish state healthcare, to make voluntary social security payments to access the system.

You can apply to register in the Convenio Especial scheme in your region, if you have been resident in Spain for 12 months.

The Convenio Especial social security payment is €60 per month if you are under 65, and €157 for those over 65, and gives you full access to the Spanish state healthcare system.  Pre-existing conditions are covered, however, general pharmaceutical prescriptions, ortho-prosthetics, dietary prescriptions and non-urgent medical transport are not.

What’s required to apply for Healthcare under the Convenio Especial?

You’ll need the following:

• Application form*
• Passport
• NIE, residency certificate or TIE (some places will not accept NIE – only green residency certificate or TIE)
• Padron Certificate
• Proof of non-entitlement to healthcare provided by another country

*Note – each autonomous region has its’s own application form and process.  Below is is a link to the form for the region of Andalucia:

We get asked a lot of questions about schools and the system of education in Spain. A lot these questions are answered in our in Spain mini guides.  Being based in the Costa del Sol, we also often get asked by people moving to or planning to move to the area, about International Schools in Costa del Sol, so we’ve created a list of those that we know.

International Schools Marbella:

The ‘padrón’ is the municipal register of inhabitants.  It records how many people are registered as living in each Town Hall ‘municipality’.  The list is also used by the National Institute of Statistics, the INE, (Instituto Nacional de Estadística de España) to complete a national census every year.  The word ‘padrón’ is an abbreviation of the word ’empadronamiento’ which means census.

The Origin of the ‘Padrón’

The origins of the ‘padrón’ have been traced back by historians to a census conducted in Spain called the `Secretaría de la Balanza´ who put forward the national control of the population – the `Padrón de Calle-Hita’.  Today’s laws regarding the ‘padrón’ stipulate that everybody who resides in Spain should be registered on it.  Part time residents, such as holiday home owners can register voluntarily.

When you register you are given a certificate, (certificado de empadronamiento), which is often required by the authorities as proof of where you live, when you use or apply for public services. The registry entry should therefore also record all the names of all people living at the address, including children, so that they appear on the certificate, as well.

Some examples of things that a padrón certificate is required for are-

The NIE (Número de Identificación de Extranjero), meaning –  Foreigners Identification Number, is the identification number issued to people who are not a Spanish nationals.

The National Police, (Cuerpo Nacional de Policia), handle the issue of NIE’s, and any one planning to carry out a transaction in Spain, e.g. buying a car, holiday home, or various other interests, needs to have one.

The NIE identifies you whenever you do something official, or which involves the authorities.  For example paying taxes, buying a property; signing a document at Notary; starting a business; or becoming a director of a Spanish company.

The NIE is not a fiscal (tax) residency identification – you can have a NIE and be fiscal resident in another country, however it is used to link payments to you that may be due, including tax amongst others. Both EU citizens and non-EU citizens are issued with NIE’s, and if you become resident, you keep the same NIE when you apply for your residence certificate or card.

The TIE, Tarjeta de Indentidad de Extranjero, is the Spanish identification card for citizens from third countries (non-EU) who reside in Spain.  Since July 2020 British UK nationals moving to Spain have also had to apply for this card, as the UK is no longer in the EU.

If you already have a Spanish residency certificate, you do not have to apply for the TIE, but you can voluntarily exchange your certificate for the card.

Both the Spanish and UK Government websites and their Consulate pages confirm that the green residency certificate, A4 and credit card sized, remain valid for UK nationals and prove the holders residency and retained rights under the withdrawal agreement, having settled in Spain before the UK left the EU.  However considering the issues some have encountered during the recent Covid19 travel restrictions, e.g. multiple incidences of authorities and airlines not understanding the rules and denying certificate holders entry to Spain, it is advisable to get the TIE.

Aside from this the card is a full bio-metric national ID card, therefore so much more useful than the paper certificate.  The card also has the words ARTICULO 50 TUE, a reference to note that the holder was resident in Spain before the end of the transition period and has retained rights.