My driving license has hit a brick wall!

Although I´ve been a resident in Spain for 6 years, I am selling our house in the UK and will no longer have a UK address.

My UK driving license is due for renewal.  I emailed DVLC and asked "can I renew my licence with my Spanish address on it."?  I was told this is not possible and I MUST have a UK address if I want a UK driving license.

I have a Spanish license but it´s no good when I visit the UK because, hire car companies do not accept them in the UK.

I could use a relatives address in the UK but don´t feel I should have too.

I told DVLC that I will use a UK address and they said that claiming a false UK address to renew a driving license is an offence which could carry a prison sentence. 

So,  I can go to the UK and marry another man, have a full sex change and adopt children and that´s within the law!!  I could grow cannibis and kill someone on a zebra crossing whillst drunk - and that would get me an asbo!

But, if I try to renew my UK driving license in Spain I will have to go to prison.!!!!!!  But I´m still a British citizen!!

If the EU can standardise the shape of a bloody banana, why the hell can´t they do something more useful and standardise a driving license????

I have a while to go yet before I have to commit this obviously serious illegal act, but has anyone else come accross this crazy rule??

I have a Spanish license but it´s no good when I visit the UK because, hire car companies do not accept them in the UK.

I don't understand that Will they not accept your Spanish licence because you are British even though you are a permanently residence in Spain.?  Presumably you have the paperwork to prove that. Seems to me anyone from the Eurozones can come to the UK and do almost what they like except the British!!! Maybe there should be a standard Euro driving licence. What price beaurocracy(sp?)!!

Hi Tish,

Apparently because a Spanish driving license is not written in English it is not accepted, this was what the DVLC told me.  Also it does look a dogs breakfast with your photo stapled to a bit of old pink card!!

When I applied for my Spanish license 6 years ago you had to hand in your UK one at traffico, but instead I had a new one sent to me at my UK address and handed in my old one - otherwise when I visited the UK I could not get a hire car!

Now this has changed as traffico just need your card part of the UK license and they stamp it with a series of digits on the back and the Spanish accept this.  But what happens when your UK license runs out and you don´t have a UK address???

Hi boboal,

This is probably the only alternative, but i wanted to highlight the fact that a British national has to commit an illegal act to retain what should be my democratic rights to retain a Britsh driving license no matter where I live in the European Union, after all we are supposed to be all in it together for benefits not ruddy loss off basic rights!!

Of course if we agents have a good year i could have a chauffer. Bet he´d look stupid driving me round in my ex-telefonica van though

Where are you from in Leicestershire balboal??.....I´m a Loughborough lad myself.

Gillespie,

I, too, lived in Loughborough then, after getting married, lived in East Leake before moving to Somerset.

Janice

Ahhh, A Loughborough girl JeansSis  Don´t think we should go any further or we may discover more than we dare OR wish to know

Thanks for the pm BTW . I´ve just mopped the office (trying out my new Cillit Bang)  Now off home for a beer and watch my recorded GP qualifying, then I´ll look into your links abit later.

TTFN

Gillespie, I think you have been fed some very strange info.

1) A Spanish driving licence is perfectly acceptable by hire car companies in UK & anywhere else. FACT - I've hired cars many times from various different companies, in various countries, with a Spanish licence. NEVER even raised a question, let alone refused to accept it. Anyway, if this was not the case, how could a Spaniard hire a car in the UK? Think about it.

2) When you left the UK you should have surrendered your UK licence to DVLA, who would have issued a certificate to present to Trafico once you became resident in Spain, who would then have issued you with a Spanish licence. I don't understand how Trafico would have issued your Spanish licence and not have returned your UK licence to DVLA to be cancelled. I suspect this was an error on their part. So the (copy) UK licence you have retained should be invalid anyway.

3) It is true (under European law) that you no longer have to change your licence when becoming resident in another EU member state, but instead must register your UK licence with the relevant authority (i.e. Trafico). As such, I don't see why DVLA should refuse to renew a licence just because you are now living in another country. Perhaps because you never notified them of your change of address? Perhaps because they haven't cottoned on to new European regulations yet. Maybe it's not just the Spanish who are slow to adapt.

I'm a little curious why your UK licence should need renewing anyway? Mine was valid until my 70th birthday. Please excuse me if it's a sensitive issue, but I sort of assumed you were younger than that! Anyway, your Spanish licence should be valid for another 4 years before you need to renew it, so why do you need a UK one? Trust me, you CAN rent a car with it. But if you really want to hang on to the UK one, I suggest you renew it before you sell your house, or simply re-direct your mail until the new licence arrives. But what about next time it needs renewing?

A standardized EU licence and a central issuing authority will come about in time. It's inevitable. But until then, expect plenty of confusion!

Ah Jeansis, so you're Dad was a civvy op, eh!  I did my training at Woodhouse Eaves in 1967 so your Dad would have either been at Beaumanor or Garats Hay.

Also spent 15 years in Cyprus (on and off) so may have met your Dad as I did a lot of training at the old Bletchley Park.

And, Gillespie, I'm originally from Cardiff but, as I mentioned, did a lot of my training at Woodhouse and bought a house in the area just over 20 years ago.  Still living in Markfield so I haven't moved far.  Also lived in Thorpe Acre for a while back in the late 70s.  Moving across to Spain permanently in the next year or two.

And, Jeansis, just notice the Somerset location (shows how observant I am).  Anywhere near Culmhead??

Yep.  Very small world.

We were also in Cyprus (at 9 Sigs) in 1969-1972 and lived in Famagusta on Glinka street (two streets back from the beach).

Also 1974 (by myself) and 1975-1979 in Dhekelia where we also lived in Richmond Village (oh the joys of the noise on the tin roofs when it rained).

Then 1982-1985 and 1986-1988 all at 9 SR.  Although I did some training in Beaumanor 1968/69, the only name I remember on the civvy side was Bernard Hedley.

I must have been on a different watch to your Dad as, i'm afraid, the name doesn't ring a bell however Walter Blenksinsop definitely rings a bell as does Reg White but Tom Tilley doesn't ring a bell, either.  Were Reg or Walter there in '82 ish and members of the Sgts Mess?? I was a Supervisor in 82 (moved to Troodos at the end of that year) and Troop Cmdr (posh supvr) in 86.  (My memory isn't what it used to be and 9 Sigs was a huge place in those days plus the married quarters were in many different places).

Also went to Culmhead a few times after they closed Bletchley Park.

Small world, indeed, and although I was only away from Cyprus for short periods, the changes on the island were amazing.  First tour Famagusta then went back during the Turkish invasion.  Even then, Ayia Napa was a small fishing village with a monastery and 1 restaurant.  Two years later it was the be-bop youngster capital of the world.  Again, left in 1985 but went back a year later and found that there was a motorway and they were using kilometres instead of miles.  Plus Ayia Napa went on for miles and miles.  They had even built a new town (Protaras) where there had only been agricultural units.

Maybe we should start a new thread to stop boring people.

We lived on Gordon Road in 86 (can't remember the number, God you've got a good memory, but it was right on the corner of Sutherland Road).  The watches (for the civvies) and the Troops (for the squaddies) didn't quite match but I was on B Troop in 69, A Troop in 74, B Troop 75, D Troop 75 and C troop 82 (until Troodos) and C troop 86. 

We moved from FamaG about six months before the invasion (to Germany) and I was sent back by myself straight after.

Ah! Mezzes.  The greatest feast on the planet. And my wife reckons brandy sours only taste good with Cyprus brandy. 

When you visited Troodos you must have gone into Kakopetria (we lived in Platres for 2 years).  The mill restaurant was brilliant for mezzes and, of course, the trout farm at Platres was a brilliant meal and day out as well.

My eldest daughter went to King Richards and my youngest to the Ay Nik Primary for a while.  I loved the swimming pool at Ay Nik.  They put a chemical in it that made your wee go red if you peed in the pool (ostensibly to stop people doing it).  Kids at the school used to hold it in until school finished and jump in the pool to pee just to watch the red cloud appear!!

I definitely know Geoff Rust (ex-squaddie) and probably know the Purdies (brain going a bit).  If any of them are ever in the Loughborough area, we have a reunion of ex ops on the second Saturday of May every year.  Lots of civvie ops turn up at at the Riverside Inn in Barrow-on-Soar and I'm sure they'd know loads of people there,  If you want any more info on the reunions you can e-mail me at frasermed@aol.com any time.

I'm afraid anyone having a look at this thread will have to scroll so far back to find anything to do with driving licences in Spain, that I feel it's necessary for me to re-post my earlier message, just to get things back to the topic. May I suggest General Chit Chat for happy memories about Cyprus (until such time as Eye On Cyprus is launched)?

Gillespie, I think you have been fed some very strange info.

1) A Spanish driving licence is perfectly acceptable by hire car companies in UK & anywhere else. FACT - I've hired cars many times from various different companies, in various countries, with a Spanish licence. NEVER even raised a question, let alone refused to accept it (and not just in other EU countries - even fastidious US of A, and as far away as S.Africa). Anyway, if this was not the case, how could a Spaniard hire a car in the UK or elsewhere? Think about it.

2) When you left the UK you should have surrendered your UK licence to DVLA, who would have issued a certificate to present to Trafico once you became resident in Spain, who would then have issued you with a Spanish licence. I don't understand how Trafico would have issued your Spanish licence and not have returned your UK licence to DVLA to be cancelled. I suspect this was an error on their part. So the (copy) UK licence you have retained should be invalid anyway.

3) It is true (under European law) that you no longer have to change your licence when becoming resident in another EU member state, but instead must register your UK licence with the relevant authority (i.e. Trafico). As such, I don't see why DVLA should refuse to renew a licence just because you are now living in another country. Perhaps because you never notified them of your change of address? Perhaps because they haven't cottoned on to new European regulations yet. Maybe it's not just the Spanish who are slow to adapt.

I'm a little curious why your UK licence should need renewing anyway? Mine was valid until my 70th birthday. Please excuse me if it's a sensitive issue, but I sort of assumed you were younger than that! Anyway, your Spanish licence should be valid for another 4 years before you need to renew it, so why do you need a UK one? Trust me, you CAN rent a car with it. But if you really want to hang on to the UK one, I suggest you renew it before you sell your house, or simply re-direct your mail until the new licence arrives. But what about next time it needs renewing?

A standardized EU licence and a central issuing authority will come about in time. It's inevitable. But until then, expect plenty of confusion!

Sorry, Roberto. 

Thread deviation, bonus point to you on "Just a Minute".

Hi Roberto,

Thanks for the pm and also getting back on topic!!

When I landed at Glasgow airport last October the EuropeCar desk would not take my Spanish license, the guy took one look at it and said it would not do.  This happened at East Midlands airport several months before as well.  I flew to Barcelona last year for the grand prix and the Europecar desk accepted it there no problem.

I think it´s because the Spanish license looks like a forgery, I mean, my photo is stapled to it and I could knock a better one up in 5 mins with photshop!

DVLC also said it has to be in English to  be accepted in the UK (stupid comment I know) but that´s what they said.

The real point though is that DVLC will not renew a driving license to an address outside the UK.  I can´t understand why they can´t accept Europe.  Ok if my address was Venezuela or Afganistan I could understand but Britain is part of Europe so what´s the problem??

I´m the same age as Rafa Bernitez by the way!  (46) though he looks as though he could be my dad!!!

My license was valid until 2030 when I would have been 70, but when I had a replacement from DVLC before I handed my old one in to traffico, the new one came back with 2010.

I think 2010 is significant because my wifes is the same, maybe they plan to have unified the licenses allover Europe by then.

I was planning on retireing at the end of this year and do a bit of travelling around the world, so an International license is not a bad idea anyway.

This is quite an interesting thread! I'm dumbfounded that your Spanish licence was refused in the UK. I agree, it looks crap, but no worse than my last UK licence did, which had no photo, stapled or otherwise. I also find it baffling because as I said I have never had a problem with mine in UK (Europecar at Luton accepted mine a few months ago), USA, Canada or SA. If a Spanish licence is not acceptable in the UK, does that mean I was driving my own car illegally last time I took it over there? It just doesn't make any sense. Are you sure the rental comapnies just didn't like the look of you and used it as an excuse not to rent you a car?!

I wonder if you're suspicion about 2010 is right - could be. My Spanish licence is due for renewal next year and it will be interesting to see what I get! But isn't the pink flappy bit of paper supposed to be an EU licence anyway? I thought that was why the old green UK one was changed?

Congratulations on your impending early retirement. What a nice thought to be going travelling the world. I had an International Driving Permit from the AA several years ago, the first time I went to the US. It was a flappy grey bit of paper with a stapled photo. I wonder if it's any better now?