Are you keeping a UK registered car in Spain???: it's only 30 days NOT 6 months before you need to re-register it in Spain, according to the Guardia!
Sunday, October 3, 2010 @ 8:10 PM
I was under the (distinct) impression that you could drive a fully legal UK reg car in Spain up to 6 months before needing to either return it to the UK OR re-register it in Spain.
HOWEVER I saw THIS post below today by a non resident of Guardamar del Segura, in a forum local to Torrevieja on the Costa Blanca & thought I'd share it.
Rather worrying!!
'We own a property here in Spain and this year have been able to spend a significant amount of time here.
We brought our UK registered car across on the ferry earlier this year and when we return to the UK with it shortly, it will have been here just short of 6 months.
From all my research before bringing the car over this year, I understood that foreign registered cars could be legally driven on Spanish roads for up to 6 months, provided they are fully legal in their own country.
Imagine my surprise when I was stopped by the Guardia yesterday whilst driving my UK car. I was informed that because I own a property here in Spain, I can only drive my car on Spanish roads for a period of no more than 30 days. When I asked about the 6 month period, I was informed that this did not apply to anyone who owns property here. I was then issued with a notice informing me that I must re-register my car here in Spain within the next 30 days, or remove it from the country.
Due to the significant amount of UK cars I see on Spanish roads (both taxed or otherwise), I am aware that many people flout both the 30 day and the 6 month rules and this message is not aimed at them. But there must be many others in Spain who are totally unaware of this information and it is to those people that this message is aimed. Fortunately, we return home soon, so we will not be inconvenienced, but if we had been stopped earlier this year, we would have been in a very difficult position'.