# Swapping UK driving license for Spanish one?



## eastie_lover (Dec 7, 2010)

Hi there, I was hoping someone would be able to help me here. I am moving to Spain (Marbella) after Christmas. Now I have a full UK license and would like to swap it for a Spanish one.

Now I’ve tried doing searches on Google but I can’t seem to get a consistent answer. 

What is the process in swapping your UK license over to a Spanish one? I’ve read you need a NIE number but do you need to be resident at the time/have been living there for 6 months before moving?

Also, I haven’t bought property out there yet as I will be staying at a family members villa (they hardly ever use it) until I find somewhere, so my question if I have to prove that I’ve been living there how do I do that?

All help is appreciated! Thanks


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

eastie_lover said:


> Hi there, I was hoping someone would be able to help me here. I am moving to Spain (Marbella) after Christmas. Now I have a full UK license and would like to swap it for a Spanish one.
> 
> Now I’ve tried doing searches on Google but I can’t seem to get a consistent answer.
> 
> ...


Have you searched this forum? there is a long thread somewhere with the ins and outs of the process.

My wife changed hers licence last year, the first thing you have to do is be medically examined, and you will need the forms prior to the examination, ours came from the chemist. The you will need to know which medical centre to attend, next three passport photos, after the medical, take the lot with your passport, driving licence. NIE number and residencia, to Traffico, we don't have a Traffico so we took ours to the government office. However I changed my mind and kept the U.K. licence. My wife's new licence came in the post within three weeks.

Hepa


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

eastie_lover said:


> Hi there, I was hoping someone would be able to help me here. I am moving to Spain (Marbella) after Christmas. Now I have a full UK license and would like to swap it for a Spanish one.
> 
> Now I’ve tried doing searches on Google but I can’t seem to get a consistent answer.
> 
> ...


There´s no rush! You can change your UK for a Spanish one once you have settled in and got your residency certificate. Then you should do it within 6 months. Go to the nearest Jefatura Provincial de Trafico with 2 passport photos, a copy of your residency certificate (this will have your NIE on it), your English licence and a completed application form. You may have to do a medical, depending on your age, but this isn t a problem provided you aren t totally blind.

They will give you a piece of paper until your new licence arrives after a few weeks (if you are planning to hire a car outside Spain, beware, this may not be valid for car hire companies).


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Hepa said:


> Have you searched this forum? there is a long thread somewhere with the ins and outs of the process.
> 
> My wife changed hers licence last year, the first thing you have to do is be medically examined, and you will need the forms prior to the examination, ours came from the chemist. The you will need to know which medical centre to attend, next three passport photos, after the medical, take the lot with your passport, driving licence. NIE number and residencia, to Traffico, we don't have a Traffico so we took ours to the government office. However I changed my mind and kept the U.K. licence. My wife's new licence came in the post within three weeks.
> 
> Hepa


Well, there you go - I didn´t need a medical when I changed mine last year, but I am a mere sprig at 58 (and I´d only had my UK one for a year).

The Trafico office covering Marbella is in Malaga city: Jefatura de Tráfico, Málaga, Costa del Sol « Teléfonos de Interés « Málaga « Municipios « Costa del Sol


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

*EU driving licences - Medical requirements*

If you have an EU licence (or indeed a Spanish licence) you will need to hold a medical certificate and the examination periods for these are as follows:

Drivers aged:

18 to 45 years - every 10 years
45 - 70 years - every 5 years
70 and above - every 2 years

So your EU photo licence is acceptable here, but it must be backed up by a valid medical certificate. Contact Trafico for your local centre, although most private medical centres carry them out at quite low cost


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## eastie_lover (Dec 7, 2010)

Thanks everyone for the help so far. Really looking forward to moving, can’t wait!

I did try and do a search but didn’t come up with anything.

Ok so I need to :
1) Get an NIE number 
2) Get a medical? This is where I’ve read conflicting views. I’m 20 and have been driving for 3 years do I still need to get one?
3) Get a residencia, how do I go about doing that? A lawyer can sort that out can’t they?
4) Take these to the Local Trafico

Couple more questions, does anyone know as I said how I proof I have an address there , will a letter from my lawyer stating I’m living in a family member’s villa be ok or are they not that bothered about that?

Thanks again and sorry for all the questions


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

eastie_lover said:


> Thanks everyone for the help so far. Really looking forward to moving, can’t wait!
> 
> I did try and do a search but didn’t come up with anything.
> 
> ...


I just answered your question, posts crossed


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## Guest (Dec 7, 2010)

eastie / as I have learned in Malaga you need a medical exam regardless of age or spirit  You can go to any clinica and ask, most do it for a smaller sum and it is done quickly, no worries. If you still do not find one there are "agents" standing outside the Jefatura de Trafico in Malaga asking if you need a quick medical exam before you go in there. I do not know if these are more expensive than others, but I doubt it.

Residencia you get at the local police station or the nearest larger police station, there are threads on the forum describing this in detail. I am sure there is one in Marbella.

As Alcalaina said, there is no rush what so ever, you don't even have to change it if you don't want to, your UK license will be valid as long as the UK and Spain are members of the EC or the EC exists or whatever... The thing about changing it within 6 months after become resident I have never heard of. I "changed" mine after 1 1/2 year, (see below).

Consider the below before changing: I did the med exam and the paperwork, no big deal, went to the Trafico, they took my Swedish license and gave me a temporary license, a small piece of paper. They said it would take a month or so to produce the "plastico" and it would be sent to me by registered mail from Madrid. Ok, I waited. After 3 months, no license had arrived and my temporary one was running out. I went back to Malaga, but they told me that it would come manana. Ok. 

I needed to drive back and forth to Sweden with my van, so away I went with my little piece of paper. I had hell in France and Denmark with the customs people stopping vans going north. In France they told me I had no driving license, but got bored after their dogs found nada and I also spoke French fluently, so they waved me off. In Denmark, same thing, but no one there understood what it said on it, so I very graciously translated what it said on my temporary license: that it was valid outside of Spain provided the driver have a valid passport. I must admit this was a lie, they did understand the Castellan part of it, but I pointed to the Basque part, so they gave up ) Then in Sweden, lots of trouble when stopped by normal police controls twice. Then much, much worse going back to Spain again. Before the Spanish border the French customs stopped us, I was travlling with my Japanese girl friend, they took her in a car and drove off, told me to follow. By that time my temporary Spanish license had expired... We sat two hours in a cell and I claimed that it was not my fault, just the fault of slow Spanish systems. Finally, after they had checked things we could go, but it was very unpleasant. I foolishly asked both the French and Spanish customs officers if everything was allright. They both put their hands on their holsters and said, "not quite" and stared at me as I was Ronnie Biggs. We went away pretty quick... (Background was that the Spanish police had done some clamp downs on women trafficking to La Jonquera etc a day or two before).

Then back in Spain I was stopped once by the policia local, but friendly as they are, they just laughed at the slow handling of it all. I had enough of ofc, went back to the trafico, they told me to hang on until mid-december, then get back if had not yet received my license. That is now soon. Trouble is that they could see in their computer that my license indeed was produced and sent from Madrid July 8th !!! Of course it is lost in the mail or something. So the few weeks Alcalaina mention may be 6 months or more, keep this in mind if you plan to drive outside of Spain while waiting for your license.

I only applied for mine because I am tired of always carrying the passport with me. A Spanish driver's license is good enough as ID except for serious bank transactions etc.


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

VidaTombola said:


> As Alcalaina said, there is no rush what so ever, you don't even have to change it if you don't want to, your UK license will be valid as long as the UK and Spain are members of the EC or the EC exists or whatever.


Sorry Vida, thats incorrect I'm afraid

A UK photo licence expires every 10 years, and you must have a UK address to have a new one sent to. The expiry date is shown on the front of the licence.


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## Guest (Dec 7, 2010)

aha, ok, I was wrong what concerns the UK. In Sweden it is possible to get a new one without a Swedish address, I got a new one while being resident here, just popped in to the local police station while visiting Sweden and had it sent to my old, invalid address, the ex's house. It may have changed though, I don't know


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

VidaTombola said:


> eastie / as I have learned in Malaga you need a medical exam regardless of age or spirit  You can go to any clinica and ask, most do it for a smaller sum and it is done quickly, no worries. If you still do not find one there are "agents" standing outside the Jefatura de Trafico in Malaga asking if you need a quick medical exam before you go in there. I do not know if these are more expensive than others, but I doubt it.
> 
> Residencia you get at the local police station or the nearest larger police station, there are threads on the forum describing this in detail. I am sure there is one in Marbella.
> 
> ...


That's why you are better using a gestoria, Around here 40€ , which includes the fee ,gets you the licence in less than a week.


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## Guest (Dec 8, 2010)

gus-lopez said:


> That's why you are better using a gestoria, Around here 40€ , which includes the fee ,gets you the licence in less than a week.


no way Jose, or Gus. I did my job ok and the Trafico too, it is the Correos that messed it up, someone in the Nerja post office hates me and throws away mail randomly. That is the problem. No need for a gestor for this simple procedure, I posted the story just to illustrate what might happen in Spain. My problem is the post office, someone eles's problem may be somewhere else. The lesson is that you can not expect it to happen automagically...


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