# Driving licence



## Annie P (Oct 21, 2021)

can I drive my 125 cc scooter on an international driving licence?


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Annie P said:


> can I drive my 125 cc scooter on an international driving licence?


An International Driving Permit is simply a translation of the original driving licence - it isn't a licence in & of itself, but a support document. 

What driving licence do you have, & are you resident in Spain?


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Annie P said:


> can I drive my 125 cc scooter on an international driving licence?



As Xabiaxica says. 

If you have a Spanish licence and have held a full licence for 2 (?) years, then yes.


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## MataMata (Nov 30, 2008)

If you had a Spanish licence then what possible need could you have for an IDP?


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

MataMata said:


> If you had a Spanish licence then what possible need could you have for an IDP?


Thus far we have no idea what kind of licence the OP @Annie P has.


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## Annie P (Oct 21, 2021)

xabiaxica said:


> Thus far we have no idea what kind of licence the OP @Annie P has.


I have had spanish residency for a year. I did not exchange my Uk licence for a Spanish one as we did not intend buying a car. However, we have bought a 125 cc scooter believing we could drive it with an international driving permit, but I am thinking we may have been mis-informed?


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Annie P said:


> I have had spanish residency for a year. I did not exchange my Uk licence for a Spanish one as we did not intend buying a car. However, we have bought a 125 cc scooter believing we could drive it with an international driving permit, but I am thinking we may have been mis-informed?


Yes, you have been misinformed. 

You'll now need to take a driving test to be able to drive anything at all in Spain after the end of this month.


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## Annie P (Oct 21, 2021)

xabiaxica said:


> Yes, you have been misinformed.
> 
> You'll now need to take a driving test to be able to drive anything at all in Spain after the end of this month.


Thank you


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## MataMata (Nov 30, 2008)

International Driving Permit.

Rarely has a such a relatively worthless document been so poorly named and so misunderstood!


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## Barriej (Jul 23, 2012)

MataMata said:


> International Driving Permit.
> 
> Rarely has a such a relatively worthless document been so poorly named and so misunderstood!


And having driven in around 40 plus countries. Some in the middle east I have never been asked to show one. And never had one either.


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## Nomoss (Nov 25, 2016)

My wife and I had IDPs when we travelled across Europe and Asia in the early 1960's, and were occasionally asked to show them at borders.
When I worked in Iran in the 1960's I was told by my company to get an Iranian issued IDP, as licences written in other languages were not accepted. It was supplied by the Automobile Club of Iran on production of a valid foreign licence and payment of a fee.I was asked to produce it on more than one occasion, together with my passport showing my residence permit, and the security pass necessary to move between different provinces.
Since then I have driven in more countries than I can remember, but never even thought about getting an IDP, as whatever licence I had at the time was accepted. I was obliged to exchange a UK licence for a Spanish one when I became resident in Spain, before they joined the EU. I subsequently replaced my UK licence and exchanged it for a French one a year before it was to expire when I reached 70.
I think most countries now accept foreign licences for visitors, but foreign residents in most have to get a local licence, which they may or may not get in exchange, depending on treaties between countries, and an IDP is totally useless in this case.


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## gtolist (Nov 25, 2010)

MataMata said:


> International Driving Permit.
> 
> Rarely has a such a relatively worthless document been so poorly named and so misunderstood!


Agree. It's case of false advertising, and somebody should put a stop to it. 
A work permit entitles you to do certain types of work in certain places. A handgun permit entitles you to own a handgun.
An international driving permit doesn't permit you to do anything whatsoever.


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## kalohi (May 6, 2012)

gtolist said:


> Agree. It's case of false advertising, and somebody should put a stop to it.
> A work permit entitles you to do certain types of work in certain places. A handgun permit entitles you to own a handgun.
> An international driving permit doesn't permit you to do anything whatsoever.


The world is a big place, so don't be so fast to generalize. Many of the states in the United States require you to have an IDP if you are using a license that's issued in any language aside from English. So I have to get an IDP every year for when I go to visit my family in the US. I have been asked to show it on a handful of occasions and was glad to have it.


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## Nomoss (Nov 25, 2016)

kalohi said:


> The world is a big place, so don't be so fast to generalize. Many of the states in the United States require you to have an IDP if you are using a license that's issued in any language aside from English. So I have to get an IDP every year for when I go to visit my family in the US. I have been asked to show it on a handful of occasions and was glad to have it.


Agreed. There are many countries which require an IDP. Opinions shouldn't be based on experiences in just a couple of European countries or an occasional holiday overseas


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

kalohi said:


> The world is a big place, so don't be so fast to generalize. Many of the states in the United States require you to have an IDP if you are using a license that's issued in any language aside from English. So I have to get an IDP every year for when I go to visit my family in the US. I have been asked to show it on a handful of occasions and was glad to have it.


It doesn't entitle you to drive though - it simply proves that you are qualified to do so if challenged.


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## Nomoss (Nov 25, 2016)

kalohi said:


> The world is a big place, so don't be so fast to generalize. Many of the states in the United States require you to have an IDP *if you are using a license that's issued in any language aside from English*. So I have to get an IDP every year for when I go to visit my family in the US. I have been asked to show it on a handful of occasions and was glad to have it.





xabiaxica said:


> It doesn't entitle you to drive though - it simply proves that you are qualified to do so if challenged.


That is correct. You have to produce a valid licence to get an IDP; it is a translation of the licence, in an internationally accepted format.
The IDP has to be presented, together with the valid licence you are using, if requested by someone in authority, in many countries, as implied in kalohi's post above.

The fact that no one in authority asked you to produce an IDP during your visit to any particular country does not mean it was not required. Thorough checks of drivers' paperwork are often only made in the event of an accident.

I don't think, in that case, telling the policeman that it is a relatively worthless document, poorly named and misunderstood, will get you far


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## kalohi (May 6, 2012)

xabiaxica said:


> It doesn't entitle you to drive though - it simply proves that you are qualified to do so if challenged.


I assumed that everyone understood that you need to have a valid driving license in order to get a IDP, and that both must be carried together because the IDP is simply a translation of the driving license. I should have made that clear in my post.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

kalohi said:


> I assumed that everyone understood that you need to have a valid driving license in order to get a IDP, and that both must be carried together because the IDP is simply a translation of the driving license. I should have made that clear in my post.


Sadly not!

I personally know people who thought that when their UK licence ceases to be valid for residents in Spain, an IDP would replace it. They genuinely believed that it was an actual international driving licence. 

One person I know's lawyer, who dealt with their residency, even told them that they should get one rather than take the test in Spain.


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## MataMata (Nov 30, 2008)

Probably the same people who thought that the now abolished paper counterpart to the UK photocard licence was in itself a licence.



Nomoss said:


> I don't think, in that case, telling the policeman that it is a relatively worthless document, poorly named and misunderstood, will get you far


If you've got one I don't really see it mattering a fig whether you express your opinion of it's worth or not!


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