Importing a car derived van into Spain

I have just been told that I am able to drive my motor van { in Spain] on uk plates provided that I 
1. Am insured with a Spanish insurance co.
2. Have had an ITV test
3. Have declared a SORN.

I have also been told that it will cost me more than 1,000 euros to have my van registered on Spanish plates.

 Does anyone know if this is true.    Thanks

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I have just been told that I am able to drive my motor van { in Spain] on uk plates provided that I 
1. Am insured with a Spanish insurance co.
2. Have had an ITV test
3. Have declared a SORN.

I have also been told that it will cost me more than 1,000 euros to have my van registered on Spanish plates.

 Does anyone know if this is true.    Thanks

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Are you coming to Spain as a tourist or resident?

1. You must have valid insurance to drive a vehicle in Spain. It doesn't matter whether it is insured by an English or Spanish company, just as long as it is valid. If the vehicle is UK registered etc., it is probably easier to get insured by a UK company, but cover abroad will probably only be 3rd party, even if you take out fully comp in the UK. Check with the insurer.

2. You cannot get an ITV for a non-Spanish reg vehicle. (there may be some unscrupulous centres that will mislead you on this; they will happily take your money and issue a piece of paper stating the car is road worthy, but it is not legally valid). If you r vehicle is on UK plates, and more than 3 years old, it must have a valid UK MoT

3. As far as I am aware, SORN means you have declared the vehicle to be off the road. In which case, if it is being used on the road (wherever in the world it may be) it is ILLEGAL.

For info on what you should do if you are planning to permanently export the vehicle, look here

It will certainly cost to register your van on Spanish plates. There is a registration (or matriculation) tax based on the CO2 emissions and value of the vehicle, plus any fees charges by a professinal if you choose not to navigate the red tape yourself (recommended!)
Bear in mind, if your van is RHD and has no rear side windows, you cannot register it on Spanish plates. I'm not certain how this law applies to camper vans, but I imagine it would be the same, since rearward visibility would be seriously impaired.

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elclarance...

Someone is telling you porkies...

quote
"have just been told that I am able to drive my motor van { in Spain] on uk plates provided that I 
1. Am insured with a Spanish insurance co.
2. Have had an ITV test
3. Have declared a SORN."
I have also been told that it will cost me more than 1,000 euros to have my van registered on Spanish plates.
Does anyone know if this is true.    Thanks" unquote

...Taking each point in turn
1)  Pointless insuring with Spanish Ins. co because it would be invalid in the case of an accident. (Insurance agent wont tell you this; he just wants to sell you insurance).
2)  ITV applied to a non Spanish registered vehicle is a waste of time as it too is legally invalid. (Note that some ITV stations will carry out a test for you but legally it has no legal authority.)
3) SORN declarations are applicable only to vehicles within the UK; That direct from DVLA.
 Your price for re-registration sounds about right, given the work that has to be done to make it acceptable to the Spanish Authorities; note also dependent upon the size of the van they might not even consider re-registering it if its RHD.

Straight from the horses mouth ie DVLA
You can only legally drive your Brit reg vehicle in Spain if :
a) It has a valid UK MOT certificate.
b) It has a valid UK Road tax disc.
c) It has valid UK insurance.

Spanish regulations stipulate that the Brit documentation must be maintained valid for the duration of the vehicles stay in Spain, BUT in any case if the vehicle is over here for more than 183 days it must be re-registered onto Spanish plates. This means that the vehicle must go back to the UK for a retest if the MOT cert will expire whilst it is over here.
A Spanish ITV cert cannot be used to re-apply for UK road tax...

All that said, there are literally thousands of Brit reg vehicles in Southern Spain of which at least 85% are illegal.
Guardia Civil Trafficos do regularly carry out purges on foreign reg vehicles and, I think rightly so.

I drive a Spanish reg car with a current ITV cert and Insurance; if I was to be involved in an accident with an illegal reg car, not only would I be substantially out of pocket; the offending driver of the illegal vehicle would almost certainly find himself banged up; his licence would be confiscated under the Spanish points system.

Far simpler to sell your UK reg van in the UK and purchase a Spanish vehicle over here.

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Thanks for the info. So it looks like my best option is to have the camper van changed to Spanish plates. If I dothis does anyone know an Insurance firm who insures camper vans, and is not a rip off mechant ?

Someone has told me that a camper van in Spain has to have an ITV every 6 months, anybody know if this right?

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Never heard that. I would think a campervan would be registered as a private vehicle with less than 9 seats, so ITV is every 2 years, same as for cars.
I don't know where you are getting your information, but I would strongly suggest you seek professional advice before making any decision. You have not said whether the van is right or left hand drive, but as I said before, if it is RHD, I very much doubt whether you will be able to register it onto Spanish plates anyway.

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