Spain: How to Exchange Your Driving Licence for a Spanish one

 🚙 How to exchange your driving licence for a Spanish licence

Is my driving licence valid in Spain?

Spanish Driving Licence

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1. What is DGT?
   
2. Is my driving licence valid in Spain?
3. Who need to exchange a driving licence for a Spanish one?
4. Brexit now what?

This article is for:
Those who already have their driving licence of their home country (i.e. non-Spanish driving licence), and who wish to drive in Spain, and/or who are residents in Spain and need to exchange their licene to a Spanish one.

 

Need to get a Spanish driving licence by taking exams?

➠Please read 🔰 How to Get a Driving Licence in Spain instead. It's not too complicated, I've done it myself. My very first driving licence 

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1.
What is DGT?

DGT is a national traffic authority in Spain. 

DGT stands for Dirección General de Tráfico. 

Pronounced as... De-He-Te... or rather... 

Day-Hay-Tay ideally without pronouncing "y"😵

DGT official web: http://www.dgt.es/

This is where all the official information can be found in Spanish.

On the top right corner of the page, there is a Google Translate option bar. Choose "English"... Hurray🎉 It's not so bad, useful enough in order to get the basic idea. I recommend referring to both DGT website and your country's government website for gathering any official information.

2.
Is my driving licence valid in Spain?

If your driving licence is issued in the EU and the EEA, then most certainly YES your licence is valid for driving in Spain. 

However there may be some exceptions such as age, that the licence holders must be of the age required in Spain to get the equivalent licence. So it's always good to check with your country's official information as well. 

DGT webpage regarding this matter is here.

For other countries, please do check with your government website and the DGT webpage mentioned above. 

If your country and Spain have an agreement, then it seems that your driving licence may be valid.

When you are visiting Spain as tourists, it is likely that you would need to get your International Driving Permit (IDP) and bring your own country's lincence with you. 

3.
Who need to exchange a driving licence for a Spanish one? And When?

DGT webpage regarding this matter is here.

There is a country pull down list, so select your country and it will display the detailed information for you. If your country is not found in the list, then select "Other countries" at the very end of the list. 

If you hold an EU or EEA permit

Your licence is valid as mentioned in the previous section, and in theory registering your foreign permits to the DGT or exchanging them for Spanish ones is voluntary basis. 

HOWEVER if you are a resident in Spain, you might want to be careful, and check if you need to exchange yours for Spanish one before 2 years pass since your residence status in Spain had started. 

DGT webpage says "In cases where the driving license has an indefinite period of validity (it does not have an expiration date), or greater than 15 years, you must proceed with its renewal, once two years have elapsed since you establish your normal residence in Spain. When you renew, the new permit given to you will be a Spanish one."

What "proceed with its renewal" means is that "you must exchange it for Spanish one". I know a German friend who did not exchange ("renew") the permit for a Spanish one much after 2 years of residence... And one day, she was stopped by the Police and boom, 200 Euro fine. Because she holds an old German licence card which is valid without time limit. According to the DGT, her permit needed to be exchanged before 2 years of her residence. 

If you hold an NON-EU or NON-EEA permit

Please do check with the DGT webpage here and your country's government website too. 

If you are a tourist, it is very likely that you do not need to exchange your licence (or rather, you can't have a Spanish permit without residency status).

If you are a resident, you would probably need to exchange your foreign permit to a Spanish once within the first 6 months of your residence (or different time period depending on your country / visa). 

4.
Brexit now what?

DGT webpage regarding this matter is here.

I understood currently your UK driving licence is valid in Spain to drive for 6 months and thereafter you would need a Spanish permit if you reside in Spain. If you have moved to Spain and plan to live as a resident, it is recommend to start the process of exchanging your permit for a Spanish one as soon as possible. 

UK Government official page "Living in Spain" is where you can find all the important information. Please access 

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/living-in-spain#driving-in-spain.

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Thank you for reading. I hope this article covered the information you were looking for. If you have any comments or queries, feel free to add your comments here 💚🙏💚