Live News From Spain As It Happens

DT said:
Monday, January 30, 2012 @ 1:09 PM

Good, about time too!!!

Allan Smith said:
Saturday, February 4, 2012 @ 10:32 PM

What if your car is taxed and mot,d in the uk and you drive it in Spain for 2 weeks.
Surely the Spanish authorities dont expect you to pay their taxes

PablodeRonda said:
Saturday, February 4, 2012 @ 11:07 PM

It used to be that you could drive a foreign-registered car here for 6 months, so long as it was legal in the country of registration, ie taxed, insured and MOT'd - has that changed?

PablodeRonda said:
Saturday, February 4, 2012 @ 11:07 PM

It used to be that you could drive a foreign-registered car here for 6 months, so long as it was legal in the country of registration, ie taxed, insured and MOT'd - has that changed?

greyray said:
Saturday, February 4, 2012 @ 11:27 PM

Yes, I fully agree. Why should they avoid these charges, when they are breaking the law both here in Spain & in the UK. Also, if you are unfortunate enough to have an accident with one of these vehicles that is not your fault, then their insurance is also invalid due to the ilegal aspect of their veihcle in the first place.
The one problem I do have though, is the ridiculous cost of putting a vehicle onto a Spanish plate > this should also be looked into, although you just know that instead of the Spanish charging less, it is more likely the UK will raise their charges to match !

Silver Fox said:
Saturday, February 4, 2012 @ 11:28 PM

Its not a problem peculiar to Spain its a result of migration throughout the EEC, nationalities will take their vehicles with them on many occasions for ease or cheapness usually. I have seen it when in Portugal notably involving the Brits , Dutch and Germans there and in England the Irish and Polish of late.I'm not against anybody doing that but most seem to lose sight of the fact that once they become resident in a country, according to the law their status changes and they are required to register their vehicles in England and also apply for Driving Licences but many choose to conveniently forget or claim ignorance as a defence. It is true certainly in England that foreign vehicles seem immune from road traffic legislation etc mostly due to the fact it is difficult to determine ownership. Speaking as a law abiding individual myself I find it a common trait of human nature unfortunately some people will always seek to find a way round paying their dues but what concerns me is that in many cases the vehicles we speak of will not be maintained properly , taxed, mot'd and probably not even insured by their carefree or irresponsible owners. I say about time whether Spain or wherever and the only time such people will take notice is when hit hard in the pocket or lose the car altogether .

greyray said:
Saturday, February 4, 2012 @ 11:32 PM

I understand that the current law has not changed, but they are going to start enforcing what should have been done all along. As long as your vehicle is legal to drive in the origin country, then it is legal to drive here >>> however, if your vehicle is in Spain for more than 6 months, then legally, it needs to be on Spanish plates no matter whether it is taxed, mot´d or insured elsewhere. Also, it is no use saying it has been here for less than the 6 months if you do not have valid proof (ferry ticket with registration number for example) as the vehicle will be taken away and you wont get it back until all paperwork is produced & fines paid.

Dutch observation said:
Sunday, February 5, 2012 @ 6:17 AM

If you like to stay for more than 6 of the 12 month's a year in Spain, you are obligated to have an insurance in Spain for the car as well as having the car registered locally. Normally the insurance of the car from the homeland allow you not an extended stay outside the home coutry of 3 months, unless otherwise agreed. So, this mean paying taxes in Spain. The registration need to be done within this 6 months. If you decide to do, you are obligated to pay import taxes if you have yourself already being registered as resident. You are considered being on hollyday of not registered as resident and import the car free as part of the furnuture (belongings) at time of immigration. However, the car need to be imported within 1 month of immigration. Every immigrant in an Europen coutry is granted the right of buying a tax-free car to be bought within 6 months (ex VAT). European rules!

Adam Pentland said:
Sunday, February 5, 2012 @ 9:14 AM

If I spend some time driving around Europe, or indeed spend night or two in Portugal then any ferry ticket is irrelevant. The law does not say I have to bring the car directly from the UK. UK law does require the vehicle to be taxed at the address where it is usually garaged but that does not prevent one taking an extended holiday.

It is essential to keep the car legal in its home country but after that it is legal to drive it anywhere in Europe provided you can handle any third party non-injury claims from your own resources.

It is long past time the European Union stopped mucking about with regulations which are half a solution. There is no technical reason why a vehicle cannot be registered anywhere in Europe and driven anywhere in Europe without all of the red tape.

What is really involved is the usual petty national interest of getting as much a s possible out of the EU while avoiding any sort of real harmonisation of tax or systems. And make no mistake it is also about control - the real objective of all governments is complete control of their subjects - note I did not say citizens!

Roger Goss said:
Sunday, February 5, 2012 @ 9:43 AM

About time there are several cars on British plates around the Fortuna (MURCIA) area, If one of those is involved in an accident I suppose the unfortunate legal driver is unable to make a claim upon them,what is needed is a system where we can pop the address If known into the local Guardia office,These residents need to be taken to court for their selfish neglect and disregard for their nieghbours.

Jeff Sears said:
Sunday, February 5, 2012 @ 11:34 AM

There are too many ex-pats avoiding paying their dues. I know of cars declared off-road in the UK that also do not have an MOT. So not only are the vehicles possibly unsafe they are also not insured.

The business of re-registering a car in Spain is not difficult nor terribly expensive unless you need to change parts such as headlights.

However, those people who do not do it are the same people that moan about immigants in the UK not registering their vehicles and avoiding paying tax.

Good luck to Trafico. I hope they impound a lot of cars.

John F said:
Sunday, February 5, 2012 @ 8:04 PM

3 years ago i changes my VW passat from Uk to Spanish plates. 1200 Euros plus 560Euros for headlights,
plus 6 months of my time, even using a gestoria. Its not cheap, it i, but i like to do the right thing.

Pete Llewellyn said:
Monday, February 6, 2012 @ 12:15 AM

the law is intended to simply make sure that vehicles in regular use here are equipped for that use. UK drivers keep their cars on UK plates to avoid, among other things, having to make the headlight changes that are otherwise required for use when driving on the right. This surely represents a hazard for other road users.

Mal Young said:
Monday, February 6, 2012 @ 10:59 AM

Just Now (Jan 28th) setlling in Ibiza. UK Car UK Mot'd, UK Tax to July (Fully insured cost a fortune). Owned the car for 5 years. Any links / suggestions where do I go next. Cheers Mal

Mal Young said:
Monday, February 6, 2012 @ 10:59 AM

Just Now (Jan 28th) setlling in Ibiza. UK Car UK Mot'd, UK Tax to July (Fully insured cost a fortune). Owned the car for 5 years. Any links / suggestions where do I go next. Cheers Mal

Dodgement said:
Monday, February 6, 2012 @ 2:25 PM

I imported my vehicles some years ago but now I am putting them back on UK plates because I am tired off the Spanish changing the rules to suit themselves. They ignore EU directives when it suits them. Many insurance companies advertise for people to insure UK vehicles and on some of their websites they encourage you to get a voluntary ITV. The DVLA say you do not need an MOT or road fund licence to drive the vehicle outside of the UK so my vehicles will be legal in the country of registration.

Pam said:
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 @ 7:29 PM

With regard to re registering cars, we have a Ford Puma and were quoted 700 euros for the new headlights, we were travelling to Seville and saw a Puma amongst several horses in a corral - we stopped to ask the owner if he would sell the headlights and he let us have them for 100 euros together with a luggage rack and other smallparts. Our local garage charged us 30 euros to fit them, so even paying someone to deal with the authorities for new plates, IVA etc it was just under 1000E.

Pam said:
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 @ 7:30 PM

With regard to re registering cars, we have a Ford Puma and were quoted 700 euros for the new headlights, we were travelling to Seville and saw a Puma amongst several horses in a corral - we stopped to ask the owner if he would sell the headlights and he let us have them for 100 euros together with a luggage rack and other smallparts. Our local garage charged us 30 euros to fit them, so even paying someone to deal with the authorities for new plates, IVA etc it was just under 1000E.

Pam said:
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 @ 7:32 PM

With regard to re registering cars, we have a Ford Puma and were quoted 700 euros for the new headlights, we were travelling to Seville and saw a Puma amongst several horses in a corral - we stopped to ask the owner if he would sell the headlights and he let us have them for 100 euros together with a luggage rack and other smallparts. Our local garage charged us 30 euros to fit them, so even paying someone to deal with the authorities for new plates, IVA etc it was just under 1000E.

Dodgement said:
Saturday, February 11, 2012 @ 2:31 PM

Pam..you were done. It cost me €348 to do everything myself.