Caravan

Hi we are thinking about bringing over our caravan over from the UK as we we only go to UK for perhaps a month a year, can anybody help us, do we have to do anything about towing an english caravan with a Spanish car? We have an English car and want to change it for a Spanish reg one.

Also anybody got an insurance company that will insure English cars in Spain.

Cheers

Clair H

Among other considerations Clair, if you have a Spanish car with a tow bar it has to go through the ITV (MOT) to legalise the tow bar.  This means if you get one fitted to a Spanish car it must be done by the right people and have the right specification.  It may well be that your caravan would also have to go through the ITV and comply with Spanish requirements as all trailers capable of carrying more than 750kg do.  

However this may be irrelevant because it is possible that your caravan may not be legal with the door on the 'wrong' side when towed by a Spanish car. There are plenty of rules which are sillier than this so it is quite likely.  

The best plan re insurance is to get rid of your UK car asap unless it does not yet require an MOT.  If your road fund tax has expired and you can't get it taxed in UK because you have no MOT, you are technically driving illegally and if you have an accident your insurance will be invalid.  Also there is a HUGE clampdown going on via the Guardia Civil Trafico on illegal non-Spanish cars - they can and do confiscate them.  THIS IS VERY SERIOUS.  We know of someone thought he was insured, but because his UK car was not taxed his insurers would not pay up when he had an accident which resulted in the write-off of the other party's very expensive car.  He was sued by the other driver and he had to sell his house to pay the claim.

Not really, Clair, but as a starter you could try the Caravan Club or any similar organisation you may belong to.  Also AA/RAC who both have big international departments.  Trawling Spanish sites might be worth a try but you would need a lot of patience - maybe the Guardia Civil Trafico site might have something - they are the dept who deal with car registrations, driving licences and fines.

Hi Clair,

I agree with jane b that you should contact the Caravan Club as they will have come across this one before and will give you the correct advice. I am also in Spain with a British car and caravan and had problems getting the insurance after the first european cover ran out. The caravan Club were of great help and I am again fully covered. I have also heard that you cannot tow a British caravan with a Spanish car. You would also have to have your caravan transfered to spanish plates if you stayed longer than six months or you could get it sealed by the customs officials to prove that it is not in use. If you are in Spain for 11 months of the year, my advice would be to sell in the UK and purchase in Spain. I am sure this would be a much cheaper option.

Good Luck, Di

Hi Di

Thanks for info, looks as if we will have to sell as you say and buy over here. Will have a look for a caravan sales in Alicante area.

You can not tow an English  caravan on a Spanish car here, also as well as a license for a tow bar the caravan must also have a licence, and a red license plate, it is a little complicated but the caravan showrooms will know everything you need to know

Good luck

Hi Gill

If you are planning to stay for 12 to 18 months have you checked out all the stuff on the forum about registering your UK vehicle here?  
You can't keep an untaxed vehicle in Spain (liable to confiscation) and if your car is more than 3 years old and has no UK mot you can't tax it in UK.
  If you change it to Spanish plates you then have a problem when you want to move the caravan...as you won't be able to tow it with a Spanish vehicle (I think).   I am sure there are others more qualified than I to advise on this but you could end up spending a lot of money and still be breaking the law.  it cost us nearly as much as our trailer was worth to register it here - we should definitely have sold it in the UK and bought a Spanish one.