Brexit – Britons In Spain Driving Licence Extension
The saga of Brexit continues for Spain´s estimated 390,000 British residents who had registered to exchange their UK driving licence for their Spanish one with the Directorate-General for Traffic (DGT) before 30 December 2020.
Given the ongoing delays in the DGT appointment system, the 30th June deadline to have driving licences exchanged, has been extended by a further 6 months.
In addition to the delays in the processing of license exchanges many Britons have complained that their applications were rejected by the DGT as their new ID (TIE) bore a 2021 date so in theory could not have been registered before the end of 2020.
Many Britons had exchanged their previous NIE green certificate which had no date affixed for the new plastic photo ID.
This administrative error has now been resolved and anybody who registered as required in 2020 will be able to get the Spanish licence.
For British motorists who had registered before the 30th December 2020 they should check for appointments to complete the exchange process on the DGT Brexit website .
For those resident that did not ( or could not) register with DGT by that date, they are required by the provisions of the Withdrawal Agreement to take a Spanish driving test in order to legally drive in Spain.
There have been some unconfirmed media reports that the UK and Spain are in discussion to conclude a bilateral agreement which will allow UK nationals resident in Spain to exchange their licences for a Spanish one.
UK tourists and visitors can drive legally in Spain with their normal licenses as well as an International Drivers Licence. The UK government website Driving Abroad gives up to date information and links.
