Dxf

Hola Terry,

I know my solicitor has an agreement with the local DGT for licences because there was shortage of available appointments and they made a local agreement that the solicitor and the DGT would have a day just doing the backlog (the solicitor has to have power of attorney). I should add that the solicitor had over 300 clients!

Davexf

Fred James

You don't need to use a solicitor - use a local gestor, they are much cheaper.

Notdunroamin

And that would help non European UK citizens how?

Licences have already been discussed the result being that for UK photocard licence holders at least the need for an IDP has been dispensed with, holders of old paper licences will still need one though.

Logically if the topic of exchanging a UK licence for Spanish were up for negotiation I'd have thought it would have been thrashed out then.

I believe what Barrie is talking about is the DGT licence pre registration scheme which, as already pointed out, had an effective cut off date of Dec 24th. That scheme also relied on DGT received confirmation of the validity of a licence from DVLA by Dec 31st.

While a Spanish solicitor might be able to oil the wheels of procedures short of brown envelopes under tables it's highly improbable that he/she will be able to do anything for anyone who has missed that deadline.

Peterval257

Hi, first thanks for all the replies that i had regarding my question.The situation does not look favourable , but we live in hope,after reading a lot on the subject of license exchange , it seem the that one of the main sticking points is that post Brexit the Spanish DGT no longer communicate with our DVLA , maybe i,am clutching at straws,but would a Certificate of Entitlement from DVLA not supply the DGT with all the information required to facilitate a straight exchange ?.Just a thought.

Chipmonk

It's funny how people now thinking of moving to Spain are focusing only on visas when their biggest problem will be driving. Cant see the Spanish changing the arrangements as they would need to do so for other 3rd countries. Long and short is: if you are going to reside ( and use a car) in Spain you will need to do a Spanish driving test. Whether you can do the actual practical in English is a moot point so best is to get enrolled in a language school and hope that in a couple of years study you have the basics to sit in a car and understand ( and reply at some point) a Spanish speaker.

Barriej

Sorry to burst your bubble, but no.

I asked the same question when it looked like we are going to miss the cut off. I asked our solicitor, the agent I used for the exchange and just because I like to be thorough a Spanish speaking friend phoned the DGT and asked.

He was told 'it is our (the DGT) responsibility to check your documents because you may not be telling the truth'

I can only assume that even if you did send this to them, they would just send it and your licence back because the cut off has happened.

I think all you can do now, is continue to drive and hope that an exchange agreement is forthcoming.

This from the gov.uk site.
Seems EU drivers are better off in the UK

https://www.gov.uk/exchange-foreign-...european-union

Barriej

Why not?

And if needing to speak Spanish is a driving licence requirement, then all non Spanish speakers already here should (in your opinion) have to take a test.
Have you tried driving in Israel, Oman or other Arabic countries? I have and Spain is a doddle compared with. At least its easy to read signs here in Europe and most of the traffic rules are similar.

I drove for 1 day in Oman and then took taxis. The factory boss laughed for ages when i told him I drove from the airport to the hotel, he was surprised I survived. (and now looking back so am I)

Spain and other EU countries are allowed to have exchange agreements with 3rd world countries.

And here it is. So its not a done deal that UK citizens who get residency here in future will have to take a test.

https://sede.dgt.gob.es/es/permisos-...al/index.shtml

Fred James

I agree with you Barrie. The list is long and there is no obvious connection from most of these countries to Spain. It’s obviously a unilateral reciprocal agreement in each case, so it would not be unreasonable for the UK and Spain to come to a similar agreement. It could be created very quickly, but both governments have more on their minds at present than sorting out trivial things like driving licences, especially bearing in mind that they tried very hard to give everyone plenty of notice.

Barriej

I agree and its going to take time sorting out the last 40 or so years. There must be a ton of stuff that needs talking about.

If it were me (and Im glad its not) I might give a Gov dept (if thats what you do) the ability to list all the things that should be easy to sort (like the exchange) but there must be other things 3rd countries have agreements about with the EU. And get them sorted sooner than later and then get on with the harder stuff that still needs work.

Fred James

Barrie, you are suggesting a common sense approach to the problem. Common sense has never infiltrated any government department in any country in living memory.

stevesainty

Read this today about taking both Spanish driving tests in English. Could be a very lucrative business methinks.

https://practicatest.com/en/practica...RoCgf4QAvD_BwE

missile

Please be advised: The driving school in Rojales provides theory & practical in English.

Barriej

They might if ordinary average blokes like us were to be in charge.

Chipmonk

Careful: they provide in English but they dont provide the examiner. Isnt the examiner separate from school?

missile

I have no idea if the examiner is independent and if one can arrange the test in English.
I got my Spanish license by exchange. When I sat my test in the UK (when Jesus was a boy) the examiner did not say very much anyway.
You have to be resident to sit the test and I would suggest it is sensible to learn the basics, e.g. drive on, turn left, turn right, stop, park here.