Car, licence, ITV: the admin nobody warns you about

We arrived in a fully loaded estate car with German plates and assumed the car question was settled. It was the start of about eight months of paperwork, at the end of which we sold that car and bought a different one here. In hindsight we should have done that straight away.

The driving licence

A German licence is valid in Spain, full stop. That is the good news and the reason many people assume they need to do nothing. In practice that is only half true: if your residence is here, you should get yourself entered on the traffic authority's driver register. Without that entry you are in limbo the moment points, penalty notices or a renewal come up.

The entry is not an exchange — you keep your licence. It simply means the Spanish system knows you exist. Appointment with the authority, passport, NIE, padrón and a medical certificate from a recognised centre (there is one in every larger town, half an hour, a modest fee).

Keep the foreign car or sell it?

If you live in Spain permanently, you cannot drive a foreign-plated vehicle here indefinitely. It has to be re-registered — and that process has some teeth:

• Technical inspection. The car goes to the ITV, where it is checked against Spanish requirements. Usually unproblematic for EU vehicles, but one more appointment.
• Registration tax. Depending on CO₂ figures and vehicle age there may be a one-off tax. Zero for economical cars, noticeable for bigger engines.
• Municipal car tax (IVTM). From then on you pay this once a year to the town hall, not the state. The amount varies significantly between towns.
• New plates and papers. After that, the car is Spanish.

We did the maths: for our seven-year-old estate, the registration, fees and gestor came to roughly what the car was still worth. So we sold it — in Germany, where the market for that car is better — and bought a used one here.

ITV — the Spanish MOT

The Inspección Técnica de Vehículos is compulsory and more relaxed than you'd expect: drive up, take a ticket, roll through the hall, get your sticker. Appointments are bookable online. Intervals: first test after four years, then every two years, annually from year ten. The sticker goes on the windscreen and the police genuinely check it.

Insurance

Third-party cover (seguro a terceros) is compulsory. Fully comprehensive is todo riesgo. The market is competitive and prices are negotiable — in year two we saved a double-digit percentage with one phone call and a reference to a competitor's quote. Important for newcomers: your no-claims years from home are not carried over automatically. Get a certificate from your previous insurer and submit it, or you start from zero.

Child seats: stricter than you think

Children under 135 cm must use a suitable restraint system — and as a rule, in the back. Front seats only in narrowly defined exceptions. With three children that means the rear bench has to take three seats side by side. That shaped our choice of car more than anything else. If, like us, you need two child seats and a booster next to each other, take your own seats along for a test fit before you buy.

Parking and everyday life

Town centres are almost all metered: blue lines mean paid parking, yellow means no stopping, white is free. As a registered resident you can get a resident permit in many towns — another procedure that needs the padrón. And in the narrow lanes of the old quarters, a small car is a life decision. Our estate cost us two wing mirrors in Mijas Pueblo before we understood that.

If we had to do it again

Sell the foreign car before driving down. Buy a used seven-seater or an estate with a usable rear bench here as soon as the NIE and bank account are sorted. Register the licence within the first three months. And renegotiate the insurance after twelve months. That's all we'd actually have needed.

Common questions

Do I have to exchange my licence?

An EU licence stays valid. If you live here permanently you should still be entered on the Spanish driver register — otherwise points, fines and renewals become a problem.

Is it worth bringing the car?

For a few months, yes. Long term you have to re-register it, and that costs time, fees and possibly a registration tax. For older cars, selling almost always wins.

How often does a car need an ITV?

New cars after four years, then every two years, and annually from ten years old. Without a valid ITV your insurance becomes a problem if anything happens.

Everything here is our own experience, not legal advice. Authorities change rules, prices and forms constantly — always check the official site of the relevant office before an appointment.