medical certificates, backless shoes and driving

Information and questions about the Law in Spain and Andalucia.
El Cid
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Re: medical certificates, backless shoes and driving

Postby El Cid » Sat Sep 12, 2009 3:20 pm

Not at all. If you have moved from the UK there is no requirement to have a "valid" address.

This is what the DVLA have to say about it.

"National licences may only carry an address from the country which issued that licence. We are therefore unable to re-issue your British licence with a foreign address. It is accepted that drivers who move to another part of the EC/EEA could be holding driving licences showing an incorrect address. This is permissible under the terms of the EC Directive on Driving Licences."

Trafico have all the details of the owner of the car which as a resident, will be Spanish plated (in theory).

Sid

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peteroldracer
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Re: medical certificates, backless shoes and driving

Postby peteroldracer » Sat Sep 12, 2009 3:41 pm

I was thinking of the Brit-reg brigade....with forthcoming harmonisation of information across Europe, there should be no escape - unless of course the plates are false... :evil:
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Re: medical certificates, backless shoes and driving

Postby El Cid » Sat Sep 12, 2009 3:49 pm

Even then it won't necessarily help.

If you have left the UK and are still driving on UK plates, any attempt to contact you will be pretty useless as the UK address on the car records will also now be a false address.

I am sure that the Guardia have records of the numbers of these cars that have outstanding offences and when they get stopped in future they will immediately pop up on their screens and then they will be in serious trouble.

The fact that Trafico on the "beat" now have permanent access to all these records is going to make it much easier to enforce the law.

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Campo Steve
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Re: medical certificates, backless shoes and driving

Postby Campo Steve » Sat Sep 12, 2009 4:38 pm

So, on the one hand DVLA say it is acceptable to have an incorrect address but on the other hand they say you have to tell them of any change of address (fine of up to £1000 for not doing so) and can't accept foreign addresses.

To me that is contradictory, or at least open to different interpretations.

You also need to be a UK Resident to get a licence in the first place.

No wonder there is so much discussion on this topic and so many varying views.

Getting a Spanish licence gets rid of that confusion.
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Re: medical certificates, backless shoes and driving

Postby Lavanda » Sun Sep 13, 2009 3:19 pm

Gosh! News to me, indeed! My OH has been stopped for speeding and fined, we have been asked for our 'papers' on occasion and my OH hit a stationary car while going to the bottle bank and the insurance is paying for the damage. All this within the last six months and NEVER has anyone at all mentioned anything about a medical certificate! Should I start to panic?

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Re: medical certificates, backless shoes and driving

Postby julian » Sun Sep 13, 2009 4:51 pm

"Should I start to panic"

only about OH´s driving !! :D

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Enrique
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Re: medical certificates, backless shoes and driving

Postby Enrique » Sun Sep 13, 2009 4:56 pm

Hi Lavanda,
Sounds like your OH needs to leave more time between emptying the bottles and taking them to bottle bank. :oops:
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Re: medical certificates, backless shoes and driving

Postby Lavanda » Sun Sep 13, 2009 6:44 pm

Thanks, Guys! :lol: :lol: :lol:

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Re: medical certificates, backless shoes and driving

Postby DavidSearl » Wed Sep 23, 2009 4:19 pm

FROM DAVID SEARL

RE MEDICAL CERTIFICATES


1. If you continue to use your UK licence after taking out a Certificate of Registration as resident in Spain, you may do so. You are permitted to do this under the same conditions as Spanish drivers. This means that you must take the medical exam as soon as you take out the residence. This medical exam is then good for the following 10 years up to the age of 45, every five years from 45 to 70, and every two years after that. Keep it with your licence.

2. That is because Spaniards themselves must renew their licences, with the eye and medical check, at those intervals.

3. The type of exam varies from centre to centre. Some are very thorough, with computer games, and eye-hand coordination tests, as well as eye tests. Others are less thorough. The fee varies, though around 30 euros seems to be average.

4. If you do not have the medical exam, the Guardia Civil can charge you for driving without proper licence. Some are stricter than others, as noted in the various posts, but you are legally require to carry it.

Good luck with it, David Searl
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Campo Steve
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Re: medical certificates, backless shoes and driving

Postby Campo Steve » Thu Sep 24, 2009 9:02 pm

"This means that you must take the medical exam as soon as you take out the residence."

David. I have spoken to my Spanish Lawyer and she insists you are somewhat wrong on this point. Although you are correct in that one can continue to drive on a UK licence, there is no need to take a medical when taking residency. The medical is only required in Spain for renewals of Spanish licences. If you have a valid licence it is assumed you have a medical as the licence would not have been issued without one.

Once the UK licence expires and one applies for a Spanish licence, then a medical will be required.
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Re: medical certificates, backless shoes and driving

Postby El Cid » Thu Sep 24, 2009 9:20 pm

Campo Steve wrote: Once the UK licence expires and one applies for a Spanish licence, then a medical will be required.
It's not a question of when your UK licence expires, its based on when an equivalent Spanish licence would expire - so if you are over 45 then your UK licence is only valid for 5 years even though it might be valid in the UK until you are 70.

Having looked at the relevant law, Real Decreto 62/2006, de 27 de enero, Articulo 22 and 24, it is not entirely clear when you have to have the medical but it will certainly be within 5 years if you are over 45 when your licence would need to be renewed if you had a Spanish licence.

To be sure that you will not fall foul of the Guardia, I agree with David that it should be done as soon as you are resident - it might not be legally correct but you don't argue with these guys!

If you exchange your licence then no medical is required until it is renewed for the first time - as you say, it is assumed that you would have had the relevant medical in the UK when you applied for or last renewed your licence - HaHa - the UK is a long way away from imposing medicals on drivers (apart from HGV/PSV)

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Re: medical certificates, backless shoes and driving

Postby markwilding » Fri Sep 25, 2009 12:39 am

This post interested me because I haven't got a certificate and didn't even realise i needed one and I've lived here for years(I renewed my last licence in the UK a couple of years back during a stay there)
I have asked various Spanish friends who have told me that they don't carry this certificate around with them and you only have to get one when you apply for new licence. The strange thing was one of them showed me her old green licence with had run from 13 years ago and won't expire until 2016 which seems to condradict some of the information given here and she work as a pharmaceutical salesperson on the road so I hope she's not driving around illegally. She did make the point that because she had the licence this meant that logiclly she had had the medical because you cant get your new licence without your certificate
I'm going to make it my mission to ask as many people as I can in the next week to see what the Spanish do and know

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Re: medical certificates, backless shoes and driving

Postby Lavanda » Fri Sep 25, 2009 7:29 am

Well, as I've already posted, no one here has ever even mentioned a medical. That includes the officers in the Cuartel who copied and certificated our English licenses. We need a definitive answer, please.

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Re: medical certificates, backless shoes and driving

Postby El Cid » Fri Sep 25, 2009 7:34 am

markwilding wrote:
I have asked various Spanish friends who have told me that they don't carry this certificate around with them
That's because they have Spanish licences and you can only get one if you have had the medical. So the possession of a valid Spanish licence, by definition, means that you have had the medical.

Possession of a UK licence, on the contrary, does not prove you have had the medical so you have to carry the certificate.

Sid

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Re: medical certificates, backless shoes and driving

Postby El Cid » Fri Sep 25, 2009 7:41 am

Lavanda wrote:Well, as I've already posted, no one here has ever even mentioned a medical. That includes the officers in the Cuartel who copied and certificated our English licenses. We need a definitive answer, please.
The law says that a foreign licence is not valid in Spain unless you have had the medical.

It does not mention the certificate or any requirement to carry one.

However, if stopped and asked to prove that you have had the medical, the certificate that they gave you when you had the medical is the only way you will be able to prove that you have complied with the law.

Apart from the risk of problems with the Guardia, the biggest problem is with your insurance company because if they consider that you do not have a licence valid under Spanish law, your insurance will most certainly be invalid.

Sid

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Re: medical certificates, backless shoes and driving

Postby Lavanda » Fri Sep 25, 2009 8:19 am

OK Sid. Thanks! That makes sense. The medical is only €30 or so but it will bring peace of mind. :D

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Re: medical certificates, backless shoes and driving

Postby markwilding » Fri Sep 25, 2009 10:37 pm

Sid
I think your right I shall follow your advice and get a medical asap just to be safe. The thing in my favor up here is I don't come across too many civil guards( They tend to concentrate on anti terrorism acvtivities. mean looking b*st*+ds :evil: ) and I don't think the Basque police are so clued up on foreigners driving without one, however, just to be safe I'm touching wood as I write this

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Re: medical certificates, backless shoes and driving

Postby Campo Steve » Sat Sep 26, 2009 8:59 pm

El Cid wrote: Having looked at the relevant law, Real Decreto 62/2006, de 27 de enero, Articulo 22 and 24, it is not entirely clear when you have to have the medical but it will certainly be within 5 years if you are over 45 when your licence would need to be renewed if you had a Spanish licence.

Sid
Is this not the problem, the situation is not clear?

On the one hand we have David Searl and people saying one thing, but on the other hand other lawyers and other people saying saying another. Both sides could probably be made to show they are correct.

I have a lot of respect for your knowledge etc Cid but it confuses me when you say "It is not entirely clear..." but go on to say " it will certainly be within 5 years..." The two don't gel. How can it be certain if it is not clear?

What makes it harder is that it seems impossible to get a definitive answer that is irrefutable.
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Re: medical certificates, backless shoes and driving

Postby peteroldracer » Sat Sep 26, 2009 9:20 pm

And what is the case if you, as a resident, borrow with full permission and any-driver insurance a British-registered car?
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Re: medical certificates, backless shoes and driving

Postby markwilding » Sat Sep 26, 2009 9:25 pm

Campo Steve wrote:
El Cid wrote: Having looked at the relevant law, Real Decreto 62/2006, de 27 de enero, Articulo 22 and 24, it is not entirely clear when you have to have the medical but it will certainly be within 5 years if you are over 45 when your licence would need to be renewed if you had a Spanish licence.

Sid
I think I understand Sid on this point. however, feel free to correct me,
Even if you have a british licence It converts to a Spanish one when in Spain,and people over 45 years old must renew it every five years, even if your UK licence is for 10 years so at some point we would need to get a Spanish one and when you renew it you need to have the medical before they will issue it :?:

One question though. What about people who live 6 months here and 6 months there?


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