Tourist Plates

Hello,

Does anybody have any information regarding using Tourist plates in Spain, we are looking at moving over to Spain (Murcia) region, in Jan 09, and wondered if we can use tourist plates for our vehicle.

Thanks
Gill

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Discussed HERE Gill. (Click link)

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As a long term resident of the costa, 24 years I believe toursist plates were available pre Spain joining the European Union. You could purchase a car tax free if not a resident here. The number plates had a red strip on the side, with the date on. You paid a very small tax to get the plates renewed every year. My first car was a tourist plated car from Cueta, cheapest place to buy a car in those days. All the paper work and car delivered to me from a garage in Gibraltar. We also drove Gibraltar plated cars which were also tax free, however all these lovely little quirks came to an end when Spain became too European !! Tourist plates, tax free cars are still available I believe, but can only be driven by people from non E.U countries.

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you can drive on foreign plates for as long as you want as long as the police don't catch you. Once your caught you face a nightmarish Spanish bureaucracy  to get your car plated and back on the road. In other words when you move, register you car here.

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And you can drink and drive as the police don't catch you.
Bit of an odd answer, that one, Rob?

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I was told that you can have your English car  registered for three years in Spain. After that you have to get a Spanish one according to Spanish DGT. The bloke that told me that had had his for 13 years and he hadn't been caught though.
Ana

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I dont think 3 years is correct. It comes back to the 180 day rule, if you are here more than 180 days you are not a tourist and should drive a Spanish plated car. Also you cannot drive an English plated car if you are working here. Much easier to buy a Spanish plated car, though they are a little more expensive, but hold their value too. Saves all the problems, road tax is cheap  approx 40 euros 1.4 engine in the Marbella area. Loads of people get away with driving U.K. cars, I have myself, but you never know, you could be stopped tomorrow. Sometimes the Guardia have blitz on the  international school car parks, loads of English plates there and obviously not tourists.

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Thanks gwm. I was not certain about this issue.

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Nati, unfortunately you were told a complete load of b****ks.


"you can drive on foreign plates for as long as you want as long as the police don't catch you"
"Loads of people get away with driving U.K. cars, I have myself, but you never know, you could be stopped tomorrow"

I think many people are missing the point here.

It's not about being stopped and possibly fined. it's not about YOUR inconvenience.
It's about driving ILLEGALLY, which therefore means any insurance you may have will be NULL & VOID.
Which is just plain irresponsible and inconsiderate to other road users.

If you are in Spain, you must comply with Spanish law. Get used to it, or p*ss off.

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As I said, I was told and I did not know whether that was true or not.
Sorry

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The rules here are very simple. So long as the car is fully legal in country of plating then it is legal here. That means uk tax, mot and insurance( either uk or Spanish.) If you are a resident here it is illegal to own a foreign plated car. To re-plate a car if you register it within 90 days of living in Spain you do not have to pay the "import" duty of 12% of the value. To prove when you start living here it is determined by your Padron. Also you must have owned the car for 6 months before changing the plates if you are trying for the tax exempt route. The cost of re-registering a car without tax through a company here that will do it for you will be about 500 to 600€. If your Spanish is very good it will cost you in the region of 200 to 300€. Dont forget that if you try and keep a car here illegally and you have an accident or get stopped by the Police then your car can be confiscated and a fine certainly in the hundreds and possibly tousands euro. As someone else stated you are not insured if your car is not legal. Insurance companies will find anyway not to pay a claim and being illegal is the easiest getout for them.

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Pretty much spot on, except there is no "import" duty payable, rather, a "matriculation" tax, which is applicable to ALL cars in Spain when they are first registered here. 
Also, the tax is now applied according to CO2 emissions, as follows:

CO2 emission of less than 120g/Km = 0% of the vehicle value

CO2 emission of between 120-160 g/Km = 4.75% of the vehicle value

CO2 emission of between 160-200g/Km = 9.75% of the vehicle value

CO2 emission of more than 200g/Km = 14.75% of the vehicle
value 

The depreciated value of the vehicle can be found on the DGT website.

RHD vans without rear side windows cannot be registered in Spain, so forget about bringing an old Transit over with you when you move permanently.

Thanks for emphasising the point about insurance. As you may have noticed, uninsured drivers really get my goat!

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I dont think 3 years is correct. It comes back to the 180 day rule, if you are here more than 180 days you are not a tourist and should drive a Spanish plated car. Also you cannot drive an English plated car if you are working here. Much easier to buy a Spanish plated car, though they are a little more expensive, but hold their value too. Saves all the problems, road tax is cheap  approx 40 euros 1.4 engine in the Marbella area. Loads of people get away with driving U.K. cars, I have myself, but you never know, you could be stopped tomorrow. Sometimes the Guardia have blitz on the  international school car parks, loads of English plates there and obviously not tourists.

This confuses me.
When we come over next month I will be buying a Spanish car as a resident.
My husband was going to hang on to his British car for a while.
Because he will be working in the UK Monday-Friday every week, he will be classed as British resident for UK tax and insurance.
So will his car be legal or not?

Laury

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Laury
You are confusing two entirely different aspects of taxation. 1) for "income tax" purposes if you are living in any country for more than 6 months and one day in a year then you are deemed resident in that country for tax purposes. This means income tax. Also as a non resident here there is a tax  on your "second" home which your legal/financial advisor should advise you about.    2) your car situation. If your husbands car is right hand drive I would seriously consider the practical aspect of driving here. At a parking place where you have to hand in a ticket means you have to either get out of the car or get the passenger to pay etc. Also on toll roads the same. Overtaking when you are driving is more hazadous etc. etc.etc. Another point to consider is that who will want to buy a right hand drive car here on the Continent. Which means when you try and sell it you will get far less than a similar left hand drive car. As far as the legality is concerned as I said before if the car is 100% legal in the country of plating then it wll be legal here. Maybe it might be a good idea to get an M.O.T. just before leaving U.K. and then you will be legal for 12 months. You cannot ITV (Spanish M.O.T.) a foreign plated car here. We all know of a guy that will get you a M.O.T. for a price which will "fool" the Spanish police but I will not advocate doing something that is illegal. Also that has to go to Swansea to get you your road fund licence. Are you willing to take that chance.
Just as an indication to drive a car  to UK and then back here will cost you about 1,000€ taking into account fuel, overnight stops, food, tolls crossing the water etc. Is this something he wants to do every year? Maybe it might be better to buy a left hand drive car in the UK and drive it over here. Good luck and enjoy the fabulous lifestyle here.

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Sorry a slight misunderstanding.
I'll be buying a Spanish car and will spend all my time in Spain.

He will be working in the UK all week and only be in Spain for weekends and holidays.
He was only thinking of hanging on to it for a couple of months or so and then either scrapping it or selling it off for peanuts. It's an old BMW with thousands and thousands of miles on the clock.

If we visit the UK for anything over a week, we will drive anyway because of the dog. I just wonderd if it was better to hang on to the British car for a bit longer or to use a Spanish one to travel back.

Laury

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Laury, admittedly your husband's circumstances are a little confusing, but Steone has pretty much summed it up. Your husband will still be officially a UK resident, and so long as his UK reg car is road legal, i.e. has current UK MoT and tax, there will be no problem with him using it here as a visitor. But it will mean driving back to Blighty once a year for an MoT (unless it's less than 3 years old of course), which as Steone points out, is costly and inconvenient. I also agree with Steone about the practicalities of driving a RHD vehicle in Spain for any length of time. 
I'm also wondering why, if he will only be here weekends initially, will he need his car here? Wouldn't it be more useful to him in the UK? Especially as you have stated that you will be buying a car here.

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It's because we'll be driving down in it for the move and he will be flying back for work. 

I wouldn't drive a wrong sided car in Spain but he has done it in France on holiday many times and it doesn't bother him.

Men are weird.

Laury

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Laury
You mentioned that you will be taking your dogs back to Blighty in the car sometime in the future. You should be aware that although there is meant to be free movement of pets to U.K. you will find that to get all the paperwork etc to satisfy the U.K. authorities you will need to start the injections etc about 6 months before you travel. See you vet about what you will need. Just a naughty thought, if you take your Spanish plated car to England they might not persue you for parking, minor speeding or other similar offences which you might or might not commit whilst driving in the U.K.

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That's a good point. They might think we're Spanish.
Not.

The dog was done last year ready to go as soon as the house was sold. Which hasn't happened of course. 
She has a shiny European passport already.

I haven't told her yet that she'll be living in Spain.  shhhhh....

Laury

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I remember now that you plan to drive down with the pooch. No problem. But unless you plan to sell the car in Spain within a year (and get less than it's worth, as Steone pointed out), you should plan to take it back at some point. I'm sure hubby won't mind driving back through France sometime. As you say, men are weird - I know of some who don't mind paying through the nose for French tolls, and even some who believe the hype that French food is actually edible!
Either way, I would take steone's advice and get an MoT done just before you leave, to give yourself some breathing space.


This message was last edited by Roberto on 10/10/2008.

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