Your UK registered car is limited on it?s stay in Spain by the length of time that your insurance company allows you overseas after this time you have no insurance and your car becomes illegal as it does with any one of the three things being out of date ie your current UK road tax (including proof of payment whilst driving in Spain) your current MOT and of course your insurance. So it?s always a good idea to check with your insurance company before you leave the UK.

As you may have noticed there are an awful amount of UK registered cars here in Spain and I am afraid to say that many of them are illegal and at last the Guardia Civil are starting to stop more on routine roadside checks and if your UK registered car has been here in Spain for more than it?s allocated time you could be in with a heavy fine and the risk of having you car confiscated.

One thing that I forgot to mention was that as with most legalities there are normally always loopholes

?Legally you are entitled to drive a foreign-registration vehicle in Spain for six months a year. Your car can remain here permanently, but must be garaged and off the road for six months. You should also remember that if your car is not legal, you have no insurance cover, whilst your car should be insured in the country it is registered in.
So as I mentioned before if you have not informed your insurance company about your extended stay and if you should have the bad luck of being involved in an accident then you can be guaranteed that your insurance company will ?back pedal the quickest that you have ever seen?.

Hi , I am interested by what you said and you look very aware of the traffic laws in Sapin.I ve a question. although I am not English I have an english driving licence and I am leaving in Spain.Do I need to change something?
Many thanks

Peregrine

If you hold a current new european(EU) style plastic UK driving licence then it is good for driving in Spain. Before you had to surrender your existing UK driving licence to the Spanish authorities and they would issue you with a Spanish licence.
So EU residents can drive on their existing EU license until it runs outs but when it does run out they must apply for a Spanish driving licence.  Non-EU residents must obtain a Spanish driving license after one year.

Dios ,  you seem pretty clued up on the car situation.  Can i ask you a few questions ,  i intend to bring my old car over in August from the UK and leave it at Alicante airport off site parking , its sole use to use when im on holiday this August and any weekends etc etc that i visit my holiday home.

Can i get Spanish ‘itv’ when my UK ‘mot’ runs out March 08 ?
Can i get Spanish road tax when my UK road tax runs out Feb 08 ?
Is it advisable to get the car totally re-registered in Spain , plated , lights altered + plus any other changes ?

as you can see im not totally sure of the laws in Spain regarding the car   etc etc

thanks col

Hi There,
Let us assume that your car has been here for say seven months, Seems like a good idea whilst in the parking insurance doesn’t really matter as long as no one hits it or steals it. But as soon as you enter onto the road if your car has been in Spain for over six months then you are obliged under Spanish law to re-register your car onto Spainsh plates.
You may well obtain an ITV(Spanish version of the MOT) but this will not be accepted by any UK insurance company and you would again be driving illegally.
I am afraid also that you can not even pay for the local spanish road tax as until the car is on Spanish plates they can not accept your money.So in short anyone who keeps their car here in Spain for over six months and has property here must Re-register their car onto the Spanish system.
So although it may seem expensive at first (usually around the 500 euro mark) ultimately you will be legal and without any further hastle or problems, personally I worry more about knocking down a child than a minor bump in a car, as I said before the normal procedure for an insurance company is to look for the cheapest way to resolve the problem and if they can escape without paying a thing believe me they will.
hope that this helps a little.

Is there anyone in Spain that UK plated cars can be reported to (Traffico? In English?) when they are clearly in regular use all year in Spain, on British plates and according to the DVLA website are either unlicensed (no road tax) or unlicensed and “exported”? I am getting really concerned about the number of cars in this situation in my area of Spain, especially when I know at least one of the cars is regularly used as a “taxi” to carry holiday makers to and from the airport - presumably with no or invalid insurance. These cars have been here for years and are quite old so will have no MOT, insurance or road tax!