Fine for resident not having changed to Spanish Licence

[markwilding]

Last night I was talking a resident who hadn't changed his driving licence to a Spanish one.

The circumstances were a little unusual because although he is in Spain for around 8 months a year, he spends the rest of his time in the UK and travelling. Basically last summer he had his wallet stolen while in the UK so he applied for a new one there even though he has been resident here for around 10 years.
The Ertzaintza (Basque police) stopped him last week at a control and gave him a 200 hundred Euro fine which he paid the next day because of a fifty percent reduction, explaining that he should have changed it within two years of becoming a resident.

And more surprisingly to me They also told him that his licence had expired even though it had about 9 years to run and was therefore illegal so he was driving without a valid licence. They even told him if they wanted to, they could have towed his car away and he would have to take a taxi home.

Was the fine correct, can he complain, could they have towed his car and is his licence legal?

[El Cid]

It does happen and in this case it does look like he should not have been fined. These two links explain the current laws clearly.

http://n332.es/2016/02/29/foreign-drive ... e-licence/

http://n332.es/2015/03/29/new-dgt-instr ... -renewals/

Sid

[BENIDORM]

From my experiences it really 'comes down' to how the police decide to interpret the problem, not what is correct !
Your friend was wise to pay and claim the discount quickly and to be quite honest it is costly and not worth the effort to argue with them.
I would also suggest that it is probably much easier and wiser to change UK licences as soon as possible.
Regards,
Gordon

[knowal]

He went wrong when he applied for a replacement licence in the UK.
A licence holder must renew their licence in their country of residence. He did not.
That's just after reading Sid's first link, which reminded me, as I remember someone else in Almería getting caught out in a similar way.

[Unicorn]

When I changed mine, a while ago, I had been using my UK one and had sent it to Trafico and complied with the (then) medicals etc. Then it ran out.

When I got the renewal for for the UK licence it asked me to confirm I was resident in the UK which I obviously could not do so I applied and got my Spanish one.

The Spanish licence is really handy for ID as well!

I hear anecdotally of more and more people getting fined by the police for not having the Spanish licence. How frequently they do that, who knows, but we all know that actions of The Guardia can never be anticipated. (We got stopped once for not stopping at a STOP by the Guardia and they spent ages pouring over my documents and then, amazing, just sent us on our way with no fine or anything, luckily!)

[IreneD]

Sid, my UK license has an expiry date - my 70th birthday in July. So I need to change it very soon, obviously but should be legal to drive at the moment, yes? Not that I do, still haven't plucked up courage to drive in Spain but with the expiration of my license looming I need to sort it out.

[olive]

So what would have happened if this person had applied for a Spanish licence after renewing in the Uk?

Does it get picked up?

[Miro]

This old chestnut just keeps coming up! It's not a new one, it's been appearing on forums & expat papers as long as I can remember, perhaps there's just a bit of a clampdown going on lately. Funny, though, I've yet to hear of any foreign resident in Spain ever being fined for having exchanged their licence for a Spanish one, and yet...there's still a stubborn resistance by many to do so. Why? (Rhetorical!)

[Wicksey]

Just read of a Norwegian non-resident fined for not having a Spanish licence. He has a house and car here, so has an NIE, but does not spend 6 months or more in Spain. I have a number friends who are in that position with a house and car but it is only a holiday home. It seems that this is the latest favourite thing for the police to fine you for and then you have to appeal if necessary.

How long does it take to exchange a UK for a Spanish licence? What happens if you need to go back to the UK and your licence has gone for renewal so you only have a temporary one? I've read it can take up to 8 months and it's just a bit of a worry if we had to go back to the UK urgently and we didn't have the replacement Spanish licence, and no UK one.

[gerryh]

I've read it can take up to 8 months and it's just a bit of a worry if we had to go back to the UK urgently and we didn't have the replacement Spanish licence, and no UK one.

Both me wife's and my licences took about 4 weeks from handing in our UK ones to getting our Spanish ones.
Cheers
Gerry

[ajtg1952]

My wifes licence took 4 weeks to come through and mine was 3 weeks. 8 months is definitely not the norm. I was recently stopped in the UK for having a light missing in a hired car and was heading for an on the spot fine till I handed over my Spanish licence. I was immediately told to get the light fixed and be on my way. Too much paperwork apparently.

[Wicksey]

How did you both do yours, through a gestoria or did you DIY? That's encouraging that it didn't take very long. Although technically we should be OK on our UK licences for now, they will have to be exchanged when the photo card needs renewing in due course.

[gerryh]

We took a Spanish person, who speaks English with us to Traffico in Malaga to help us.
As it happens I was telling her what I needed to do and the person behind the desk spoke good English.
You have to book an appointment on line and it seems they send all the expats to the desk with the English speaking person manning the desk.
Information about changing a licence is in the FAQs section viewtopic.php?f=42&t=27787
Cheers
Gerry

[MartinEB]

You have to book an appointment on line

Pretty easy to do also:

https://sedeapl.dgt.gob.es/WEB_NCIT_CON ... Cita.faces

[Wicksey]

Thank you both. I cannot find details of what we would need to take and it seems that although I don't need a medical for an exchange (there's still a few years left on the UK licence) Malaga may ask for it. I did mention in another post that someone has been asked for his paper copy of his UK licence by Trafico (an article posted online 26 March, so quite recent) so I'm not sure what is going on there!

[elusive]

Been lots of reports to citizens advice spain about non residents on holiday been fined.

We did ours end of 2014 before a rush started after reports about having to change before a set date. only took about a month or so after having to chase them up over a wrongly addressed letter.There have been reports of it taking upto 6 months but in most cases thats because someone has messed up. Ie traffico not contacting dvla and people not bothering to chase things up if they havnt heard anything.

We did it ourselves.no need to pay someone imo as if there are any delays you end up having to chase the gestor up to then chase traffico up. Several staff at malaga spoke perfect english and even if they dont they know what you are asking for as you hand them a slip (you collect as you go in)that says you are wanting to exchange.

If two of you drive and you think you may want to go back to the uk then i guess doing one at a time is the best thing to do as the paper licence you get to cover you here isnt valid in the uk. When you first apply you keep your uk licence.only once they have contacted dvla to check its legit then you get called back for another apppointment and its at that point you hand over your uk licence and get the paper cover .So in theory you should only be without a actual plastic licence for no more than a few weeks. As the delays are normally caused at the first stage ie dvla confirming your licence is legit. Also if you need a medical they will tell you at the first appointment so you get it done and take it back with you at the second one.

If i remember right we needed originals and copies of both uk licence parts passport, residencia and maybe padron not sure on that one.

[peteroldracer]

I would suggest that you have the medical done anyway - if you fail because of some unknown defect or known one you should not be driving anyway?
Failure would not invalidate your UK licence and you would have time for treatment or at least to know the option to change is not going to be there. Of course if you fail any test in Spain you can simply keep having them done until you find some slack sod who will pass you.....
To continue to use your UK licence you must (IIRC) take medicals as if you were a Spanish licence holder, so depending on your age you could hit the time limit before your UK licence needs renewing (which of course you cannot do!).

[Beachcomber]

If you are thinking of exchanging your licence you should get on and do it now because if, in the increasingly likely event that, the United Kingdom votes to leave the European Union you will not be able to exchange the licence and you will need to take a Spanish driving test.

When we exchanged our licences they were typed out on a clattering old typewriter with the letter 'S' missing and issued whilst we waited at the desk and that was even before Spain became a member of the European Union. I'm not sure if the rules allowed for that but they were so chuffed that we wanted to exchange our UK licences for Spanish ones that they just went ahead and did it.

Needless to say, that was in the days before Spain became a haven for rip-off merchants and control freaks.

[IreneD]

I have finally got around to beginning the process to change my driving license. The medical bothered me, I was really worried about that strange computer test where you have to keep the balls between the lines but apparently I did very well, according to the doctor! BP was a bit high but everything else was fine. The doctor was really lovely, very kind and patient with explaining everything.

We got my photos done at the place next to the Police Station in Torre del Mar, medical just down the road at Clinica Rincon, then over the road and down a bit to the Gestoría López Navas. Whew, very relieved, all I need to do now is actually drive in Spain,. Hopefully I am legal now, it was worrying me that I might not be, as the rules seem to be interpreted differently , depending on who you speak to.....I wasn't given any bits of paper in place of my license, so I hope that isn't a problem. I've got photocopies of all the things the gestor needed, including my license, and a receipt for the 72 euros, saying what it was for.

[Unicorn]

Just a suggestion. As there may be a few wanting to change their licenses to Spanish ones and a delay may occur, why not pop down to the Notario and get a notorised copy of the UK license before you send it off. I am a bit of a belt and braces person but that can pay off in Spain.

When I sent off for mine a while ago it took over 6 months to come through.