Driving Licences: Spain

(asked on 7th September 2022) - View Source

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the number of UK expats in Spain who are no longer able to drive legally in that country with a UK license and who were not able to swap to a Spanish license prior to the deadline of the 1 January 2021; and if she will have discussions with his Spanish counterpart on that matter.


Answered by
Kevin Foster Portrait
Kevin Foster
This question was answered on 22nd September 2022

We assess the majority of UK licence holders in Spain registered their intent to exchange, as they were advised to, before 31 December 2020. They are therefore unaffected.

UK licences holders resident in Spain and currently unable to drive primarily fall in three groups:

  • UK licence holders who are long-term residents in Spain and did not exchange or register their intent to exchange, as advised, before the end of the transition period (31 December 2020).
  • UK licence holders who did register their intent to exchange before the end of the transition period, but did not complete the exchange process by 30 April 2022
  • UK licence holders who have arrived as residents in Spain after 31 December 2020 and have been residents in Spain for longer than 6 months.

Negotiations with the Spanish Government are ongoing.

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