# Number plates



## Patsy.Pink (Aug 23, 2014)

I am moving to Spain and planning to sell my car and buy one in Spain. My question is - Can I use my personalised number plate on a Spanish car?


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## Barriej (Jul 23, 2012)

Patsy.Pink said:


> I am moving to Spain and planning to sell my car and buy one in Spain. My question is - Can I use my personalised number plate on a Spanish car?


Short answer would be no. You will buy a car in Spain with Spanish plates. And unless I'm wrong there aren't personalised plates in Spain.

UK plates are only legal in the UK. Spanish plates are only legal in Spain.
You can remove your UK plate and put it on retention just in case you ever go back to the UK.


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## larryzx (Jul 2, 2014)

Patsy.Pink said:


> I am moving to Spain and planning to sell my car and buy one in Spain. My question is - Can I use my personalised number plate on a Spanish car?


Simple answer No.


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## Patsy.Pink (Aug 23, 2014)

Thanks all. I did think that was the case. Shame!


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## el romeral (May 8, 2012)

Spanish plates are incredibly boring in relation to UK ones.


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## VFR (Dec 23, 2009)

el romeral said:


> Spanish plates are incredibly boring in relation to UK ones.


At least they don't look like a billboard on the back.

Erm how can they be boring ?


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## scubamike (Jan 2, 2011)

Traffico haven't twigged yet that there is money to be made issuing personalised plates


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## larryzx (Jul 2, 2014)

UK Personalised ‘adjusted numbers’ plates

Some years an internal instruction to the Met Police gave directions on action which should be taken when numbers and letters were altered so as to read as the owners wanted. It concluded by saying that personalised plates were rather silly and juvenile. I wondered what happened to the officer who issued the instruction as at the time the Commissioner’s official car’s registration was: ‘MP 1’


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

baldilocks said:


> What is the point, apart from a cheap ad for this company? This is the Spanish forum and personalised plates are not allowed/do not exist in Spain.


I thought show plates were only allowed for show purposes. That is, they can't be used for every day use.

Personal plates are something quite different surely?



Any way, as said, they (UK plates) can't be used in Spain so that's the bottom line.


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## larryzx (Jul 2, 2014)

snikpoh said:


> I thought show plates were only allowed for show purposes. That is, they can't be used for every day use.
> 
> Personal plates are something quite different surely?


 What are 'show plates? '

Personalised plates are ones which a person buys (when they are available) with a number which they like, 

examples.

‘M 1 JAS’ mounted to read M1JAS 

‘E L J 1 M ‘ EL J1M

Or maybe with their initials, John William Smith maybe JWS 1


Etc. 

Such plates are completely legal and are now sold by DVLC

A visitor to Spain with such a number can of course use the vehicle in Spain in the same circumstances as any other registration number. It is a legal Reg No.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

larryzx said:


> What are 'show plates? '
> 
> Personalised plates are ones which a person buys (when they are available) with a number which they like,
> 
> ...




The only reason this thread became reactivated was because a spammer posted a link to buying British cherished plates (I've now obliterated his post :eyebrows: lol), which as you say can now be bought from the DVLA anyway. I think Snikpoh means these cant be used on a Spanish registered car, by a resident in Spain.

Jo xxx


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

larryzx said:


> What are 'show plates? '
> 
> Personalised plates are ones which a person buys (when they are available) with a number which they like,
> 
> ...



Be careful, Larry. The numbers and letters as sold by DVLA are legal but their configuration (as described by you above) are NOT.


Show plates are ones where the fonts are different, the letter spacing is different (to read words etc.) and are generally 'glam'. These are not legal on the road.


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