By The Crazy Guy
The letters which appear on our vehicle registrations are fascinating. The ones listed below all have a significance for The Crazy Guy. Let’s take a look!
Provincial Codes – AL, B, CA, CO, GR, H, J, M, MA, SE and SS
From 1900 until 2000, normal car registrations began with the province code where the vehicle was first registered. These cars retained the same number for life, as in the UK, but not in Germany, where change of ownership requires a new registration plate.
That is why we still see older vehicles with the provincial code, viz. Almería, Barcelona, Cádiz, Córdoba, Granada, Huelva, Jaén, Madrid, Málaga, Sevilla and San Sebastián. I chose these because I’ve been to them all and they have personal meanings for me:
Barcelona, the capital of Cataluña, I used to visit quite frequently years ago, for work and for pleasure. The city of Las Ramblas, Gaudi, Parque Guell and Barca is fascinating.
Madrid, the capital, I’ve been to with work and for pleasure. De Madrid al Cielo, as they say. Plaza Mayor, Parque del Retiro, Museo del Prado and Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid. Fabulous!
San Sebastián (or Donostia), capital of the Basque province of Gipuzkoa, is where I spent my formative years as a student of Spanish. Playa de la Concha, La Parte Vieja, Monte Igueldo and Real Sociedad FC. The jewel in the crown.
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Cádiz, Córdoba, Granada, Málaga and Sevilla are neighbouring provinces in Andalucia. I love all five capitals. Each different.
Cádiz has its long coastline, the Cámara Oscura and great food and drink (including Spanish real ale!).
Córdoba boasts the Mezquita and its Jewish Quarter.
Granada has the Alhambra and the Sacromonte.
Málaga has Mount Gibralfaro, its Roman Theatre, the refurbished Port Area and Picasso.
Sevilla is just ….. Sevilla: La Catedral, La Giralda, La Torre del Oro, Plaza de España, Casco Antiguo, and two Primera Liga football clubs, Real Betis and FC Sevilla.
Almería, Huelva, Jaén, the remaining provinces of Andalucía, are places I visited in the past. Great beaches (not in Jaén, obviously!). Almería also has the spaghetti western film set in the desert; Huelva, the estuary of the River Guadalquivir; and Jaén has Úbeda and Baeza, fabulous towns, steeped in history.
Official vehicles – CME, CNP, EA, ET, PGC
CME is Cos dels Mossos d'Esquadra, the Catalán equivalent of the Policía Nacional.
CNP is the Cuerpo Nacional de Policía, or Policía Nacional, the national force responsible mainly for crime.
EA is the Spanish Airforce – Ejército del Aire.
ET is the Spanish Army – Ejército de Tierra.
PGC is the Policía Guardia Civil.
Personal vehicles – DSW, ENJ, GHC, GPM, KBF, KVV, LSL, PJW
2099 DSW was my first Spanish car, a SEAT Leon. What a great car that was! I only sold it because I bought a VW Transporter van, so didn’t need the car any longer.
ENJ 406 was our first car when I was growing up in Devon in the 1950s. It was a Hillman Minx saloon with split windscreen and running boards. It had apparently been an army staff car in the Second World War. My dad shelled out ….. a massive 125 pounds for it!
5435 GHC was Rita’s Peugeot 206 cabriolet which she bought new in Germany and imported to Spain when she emigrated here in 2006. Sadly, the engine caught fire in 2021 and the car had to be scrapped.
7621 GPM was Rita’s replacement car, a Peugeot 207 cabriolet, which we bought in Madrid.
YB54 KBF is the Volkswagen Transporter T20 van I bought from my neighbour, JM, who some months later in a fit of spite, set it alight and wrote it off (allegedly). The police know he did it, but there was no proof.
8130 KVV is my current car, a Peugeot 2008.
1142 LSL is the number I was allocated when I legalised the VW Transporter by officially importing it and re-registering it here in Spain.
M50 PJW is the personalised registration (cherished number plate) to which I treated myself when I reached 50 years of age and bought a Mazda RX8, the best car I ever had.
This was a sports car with a Wankel rotary engine. I loved my “male menopause” purchase. When I got through said “menopause, I sold the Mazda and a bought a somewhat boring Ford Focus onto which my cherished number was transferred.
I sold the Focus when I bought a Vauxhall Vivaro van, which I needed while doing up my house in England and when I emigrated to Spain. I sold the Vivaro van to my German pal Rainer, who made me a good offer. He exported it to Germany, where he and his missus Iris, used it for many years. Sadly, I hear it is no longer going strong!
Note: I can’t include the reg. no. of the Vivaro, simply because I can’t remember it and no longer have any paperwork.
Conclusion
So, there we have it. The vehicle registration letters that have been important in my life, from Spanish provincial markers, through official Spanish vehicles to my privately-owned cars and vans, both in the UK and in Spain.
© The Crazy Guy
Acknowledgements:
civitatis
guardia civil
jdpower.com
Paul Whitelock
Tags:
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