British Driving License - Ive got a fine

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peteroldracer
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Re: British Driving License - Ive got a fine

Postby peteroldracer » Mon Mar 14, 2016 12:25 pm

I have to feel sorry for the OP - he has a Spanish car, Spanish insurance and a perfectly valid licence AFAICS.
There are so many out there much more deserving of the attentions of the Guardia Civil!
He seems to be caught between a rock and a hard place - he cannot get a Spanish licence yet is being fined for not having one.....he will judt have to move here full time :roll:
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Re: British Driving License - Ive got a fine

Postby knowal » Mon Mar 14, 2016 1:21 pm

john the baptist wrote: should i pay or should i fight it??
I'd go and see a lawyer quick and fight it.
If your insurance company are willing to help, even better, ask them first.

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Re: British Driving License - Ive got a fine

Postby rafiki » Mon Mar 14, 2016 2:17 pm

Reading the CAB Spain page on this topic it sounds as if they would take this up on your behalf.
Brian.

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Re: British Driving License - Ive got a fine

Postby Miro » Mon Mar 14, 2016 3:01 pm

peteroldracer wrote:I have to feel sorry for the OP - he has a Spanish car, Spanish insurance and a perfectly valid licence AFAICS.
I think you're forgetting, he's a resident, not a visitor, so he still needs the medical. Apart from that though, it does sound like it's worth fighting for the "crime" to be fined at the correct level.
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Re: British Driving License - Ive got a fine

Postby peteroldracer » Mon Mar 14, 2016 3:07 pm

Quite right Miro, I had forgotten that. As El Cid says, it may not have be the law but it makes great sense to change to a Spanish licence. This also gives you usable photo ID, acceptable for most purposes.
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Re: British Driving License - Ive got a fine

Postby Miro » Mon Mar 14, 2016 3:34 pm

Totally agree. Of course, when I first came to Spain it wasn't an option, I had to change my licence, but considering that there are other hurdles to living in Spain that are harder to overcome than exchanging your licence, I fail to see why there's so much resistance to it. Just stubbornness, I think.

P.S. Movistar would not accept my Spanish driving licence as official ID :evil:
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Re: British Driving License - Ive got a fine

Postby elusive » Mon Mar 14, 2016 3:49 pm

Why does he need a medical? If hes exchanging it he gets a spanish licence with what is it? 3 years i think he said he had left on it. After the three years is up he needs to renew and thats when the medical is required. Unless the goal posts have been moved yet again?!

Not surprised at movistar. I guess it would be ID card or passport

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Re: British Driving License - Ive got a fine

Postby Miro » Mon Mar 14, 2016 3:55 pm

Keep up! He needs the medical certificate if he's keeping his UK licence. And if he exchanges it, he'll need a medical anyway, but he'll get 10 years straight away.
If he keeps pi55ing the Guardia off, he might get 3 years off for good behaviour :wink:
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Re: British Driving License - Ive got a fine

Postby peteroldracer » Mon Mar 14, 2016 5:40 pm

Miro has got it right.
Whatever the law says the Trafico in Malaga at least will not proceed with a change to Spanish licence without a medical - quite right too in my view!
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Re: British Driving License - Ive got a fine

Postby elusive » Mon Mar 14, 2016 5:43 pm

Malaga traffico must have changed the rules then since i did mine a year or so ago. No medical was needed if you were exchanging. One was only needed at renewal stage. That was the law according to CAB spain aswell at that time

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Re: British Driving License - Ive got a fine

Postby El Cid » Mon Mar 14, 2016 5:54 pm

They do keep interpreting the rules as they go along. On their own website, listing the docs required for exchange, there is no mention of a medical when exchanging and the law does not require one because they foolishly assume that as you are exchanging a licence, that you would have had a valid medical when that licence was issued.

The point about medicals that has been referred to in this thread is that one of the conditions of continuing to use a foreign licence while resident is that you must conform to the same rules that apply to holders of a Spanish licence with regard to periods of validity and medicals. That means that a resident cannot drive on a UK licence (after the first two years) without carrying a valid medical certificate. This is rarely enforced, but as usual, if the officer feels in the mood he will ask for it, usually just after his mate has kicked in your rear light (only joking!)

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Re: British Driving License - Ive got a fine

Postby Unicorn » Mon Mar 14, 2016 7:03 pm

This was while ago but when I was using my UK licence before it expired i had registered it with Trafico and had complied with the medicals etc. When it ran out and I got my Spanish one I did a medical anyway, just in case!

I come from the belt and braces school!!!! :think:

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Re: British Driving License - Ive got a fine

Postby elusive » Mon Mar 14, 2016 7:59 pm

El Cid wrote:They do keep interpreting the rules as they go along. On their own website, listing the docs required for exchange, there is no mention of a medical when exchanging and the law does not require one because they foolishly assume that as you are exchanging a licence, that you would have had a valid medical when that licence was issued.

The point about medicals that has been referred to in this thread is that one of the conditions of continuing to use a foreign licence while resident is that you must conform to the same rules that apply to holders of a Spanish licence with regard to periods of validity and medicals. That means that a resident cannot drive on a UK licence (after the first two years) without carrying a valid medical certificate. This is rarely enforced, but as usual, if the officer feels in the mood he will ask for it, usually just after his mate has kicked in your rear light (only joking!)

Sid
Your last paragraph sid is something i dont understand. So as you say the law says if swapping then no medical as they presume you had one in your own country. But then they say after two years as resident if you keep your uk licence you must comply ie take a medical. yet on a spanish licence you only take a medical every ten years (under 65) and as you say when swapping you dont need a medical as they presume you had one prior. So complying with spanish law logically would mean you have a medical when your uk licence expires the same as you would if you had a spanish licence. But then you have a directive saying yoy must change after two years but then theres another law saying you dint have to change if you get a medical?

Then again this is spain. When was anything ever logical

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Re: British Driving License - Ive got a fine

Postby El Cid » Mon Mar 14, 2016 8:29 pm

elusive wrote: So complying with spanish law logically would mean you have a medical when your uk licence expires the same as you would if you had a spanish licence. But then you have a directive saying yoy must change after two years but then theres another law saying you dint have to change if you get a medical?

Then again this is spain. When was anything ever logical
When your UK licence expires you will no longer be able to exchange it (or at least not without some difficulty).

The law that forces you to exchange after 2 years only applies to licences that do not conform to the EU directive in that they are valid for more than 15 years or have no expiry date. This applies to very few British expats. That is entirely different from the (largely unenforced) requirement that you have a medical if you choose to retain your UK licence.

Yes, the two rules do seem to contradict each other, but this is Spain and this happens all the time and added to this is the fact that individual (dis)functionarios often interpret the rules incorrectly.

As I said earlier, any resident who chooses to retain his UK licence is just asking for trouble - sad but true.

One must also consider the fact that insurance companies usually insist that you have a licence that is valid in Spain. Since the validity seems to be questionable as far as the Guardia are concerned, I would personally not be happy to take the chance that my insurance company might also think the same way in the event of a claim.

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Re: British Driving License - Ive got a fine

Postby Miro » Sat Jun 25, 2016 11:44 am

El Cid wrote:
Miro wrote:On a side note, anybody renewed their licence at one of the official medical centres, rather than direct with Tráfico? Any idea what they charge (on top of the renewal fee) for their services? There's one at the bottom of my street - I could do with avoiding going to Málaga if possible.
It is very easy to renew at the medical centre and they make no extra charge apart from the medical. They take the photos (if you don't like the photo they will take another one) and do all the paperwork. Since you would have to go to the medical centre anyway, it would be a waste of time to make a second trip to Trafico. The new licence arrives within 2 weeks.

Sid
Just a quick update to confirm that my local medical centre processed my renewal for me as discussed above, for a total flat fee of €50 all inclusive, and I just received my shiny new EU (!!!) licence, valid for 10 years, in the post exactly 25 days later :thumbup:
Interestingly, the "medical" seems to have been dumbed down since my last time; they didn't do the hearing test or the reaction time test thingy, just a simple eyesight test, blood pressure check and the usual standard questions e.g. are you competent to drive? (clue: answer "yes"!)
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Re: British Driving License - Ive got a fine

Postby markwilding » Sat Jun 25, 2016 12:40 pm

A quick update.
I was with the chap who got the fine last night and he told me He has had to make two separate appointments, the first to set in motion the changeover where Taffico had to ask for data from the UK. He was then told to return about 2 weeks later but he had to have the medical first.

He is waiting for his new licence and has been given some sort of temporary one. He decided to pay the fine and put it down to experience and tell everybody he knows. if they haven't changed theirs, they are at risk of getting a fine.

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Re: British Driving License - Ive got a fine

Postby dxf » Sat Jun 25, 2016 10:14 pm

Hola

Interesting points with regard to Brexit - all non-EU driving licences are not valid - you have to take a test - so will my Spanish licence be accepted in the UK? and after the actual Brexit, will UK driving licences be acceptable here for car hire etc?

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Re: British Driving License - Ive got a fine

Postby El Cid » Sat Jun 25, 2016 10:49 pm

I'm sorry, but is not correct. Many non EU licences can be used in Spain by tourists and residents can use them for a period before exchanging them for a Spanish licence without a test. There are loads of non EU countries whose licences can be exchanged. The list on the DGT. Site includes these.

Argelia, Argentina, Bolivia, Brasil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Filipinas, Guatemala, Macedonia, Marruecos, Nicaragua, Panamá, Paraguay, Perú, República Dominicana, Serbia, Túnez, Turquía, Ucrania, Uruguay y Venezuela.

It is inconceivable that the UK would not be added to that list post Brexit.

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Re: British Driving License - Ive got a fine

Postby Miro » Sun Jun 26, 2016 12:01 pm

I don't understand Dave's comments. Why would a Spanish licence not be accepted in the UK? I've hired cars in non-EU countries with my Spanish licence. Why would a UK licence not be accepted in Spain? In the past, I hired vehicles with my UK licence in places such as Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, USA....what on earth has EU membership got to do with acceptability of UK licences for hiring cars?
Anyway, the EU directive on a common format for driving licences applies to the EEA too, so if, as is likely, the UK remains part of that, UK licences in the future will be the same as, say, Norway's - exactly the same except that the blue flag with yellow stars will be replaced with an oval with GB in it - or perhaps just "E&W" for England & Wales ;-)
Incidentally, I notice on my new Spanish licence that it includes the code 70, denoting that it was originally issued as an exchange of my UK licence (no test required!) and also includes my original UK licence number (a variation on my DOB) - which in my book makes me far more competent to drive anywhere in the world than someone who passed their test in Spain!
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Re: British Driving License - Ive got a fine

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