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Driving on the Costa del Sol

When you move to Spain do you sell your old car and buy a Spanish one?

Can you take your present car with you and keep it in Spain on its UK or other European registration plates?

If you do, what happens after you have spent some time in Spain ?

Can you import your car and register it in Spain ?

Can you keep your foreign plated car in Spain to use on your holiday visits ?

If you become a resident, do you have to have a car on Spanish registration.

Cars on Foreign Registration

If you already own a foreign plated car you can operate such a car in Spain for 6 months of Driving on the Costa del Sol each calendar year with no formalities what so ever other than the presentation of your driving licence, car registration documents and insurance certificate at the border control as you enter Spain, that’s if anybody bothers to stop you and asks to see the documents at the frontier .

You can keep your car in Spain permanently as long as you garage it and don’t drive it for more than 6 months in a calendar year, although a lot of people do.

With Spain’s entry into the EU, the International insurance certificate (green card) is no longer necessary, but check with your insurance company because many of them offer limited cover and a time limit when travelling outside your home country.

Your driving licence from your home country is valid for the first 6 months of your stay in Spain although the authorities recommend you get an International licence or an official translation of your licence, which you can obtain from the Spanish consulate in your home county.

Neither the translation or International licence is strictly necessary if you are an EU citizen.

If you own a holiday home in Spain you can freely operate your foreign registered car with your foreign driving licence as long as it does not exceed 6 calendar months in any year. The 6 months need not be continues you could drive your car for 2 - 3 month spells and because it is based on a calendar year you could drive your car for the last 6 months of the year and the first 6 months of the following year.

The 6 month period is based on the individual not the car, so a European who stayed in Spain without his car then returned home to collect his car and bring it back to Spain with him could only operate the car for a two month period.

It is highly recommended that if you do drive in Spain and travel back and forth to your home country that you keep all relevant paper work such as airline tickets for proof of dates regarding the length of your stay.

Going to the trouble of getting exit and entry stamps on your passport will provide you with irrefutable evidence.