New Year Relief As Brexit Driving Licence Extended

The British Embassy have announced another extension to the validity of UK licences in Spain past the December 31st deadline, saying that “negotiations are progressing” regarding a reciporcal Uk-Spain driving licence exchange deal.

A deal between Spanish and British authorities has proved one of those elusive ones following the end of the Brexit withdrawal agreement with Spain.
A sticking point is the many British residents in Spain who didn’t register their intent to exchange their UK licence for a Spanish one before December 30th 2020 under the Withdrawal Agreeement.

“Now, those negotiations are progressing but they haven’t yet reached a conclusion,” the British ambassador in Madrid stressed.

“So what we’ve done is to ask the Spanish government for an extension to the current December 31st 2021 deadline.

“That’s in order for you to be able to continue to drive on your UK driving licence here in Spain in the new year.

“I’m expecting them to grant this extension before the end of the year,” Elliott said confidently.

A third extension would give UK licence holders who reside in Spain and registered their intent to exchange more time to do so at Spain’s often-overburdened DGT traffic authority; and for those who didn’t register their intent, more time to drive legally in Spain and potentially sit their Spanish driving test as a safeguard.

“This is a message for British citizens resident in Spain and for other residents driving with a UK driving licence, and I know that does include some Spaniards,” Elliott highlighted.

“Many of you have also rightly pointed out that Spaniards resident in the UK are able to exchange their Spanish licence for a UK one without taking a practical test”.

After a long wait for answers, UK licence holders in Spain are now hoping that a reciprocal agreement can finally be reached to solve this Brexit-induced obstacle.

Unless Spain has a bilateral agreement with a third country for the recognition and exchange of licences, most non-EU driving licence holders have six months from their arrival in Spain to use their foreign licences, after which they need to resit and pass the tests.

 

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