parispete

I have flats in Paris and Malaga and want to buy a car in France and drive between the two. I have a garage in Malaga, but not Paris, so the car will be in Spain most of the time. I have no visa anywhere and move around strictly as a tourist on an international driving license.
Can anyone give me any clues on the best insurance?
Or whether my lifestyle will cause me grief?
Or whether French plates in Spain can get me into trouble, even though I'm strictly a tourist?

jdr

Search the forum and read any of the 200 threads on cars in Spain.

zel

It's quite straight forward.

The vehicle you have has to be registered in the country you are a perm member of, which I assume is France.

This French plated car as you would imagine is fine and dandy to do whatever you like with it in France, but in Spain it can not stay within the country for longer than 6 months (EU law) or 3 months (Spanish law I believe) as a tourist..

From my understanding of EU laws is the member state can opt out, so if the Spanish law has a lower time frame (it used to be 6 months) then you would have to go with that.

Now saying that, assuming you do have French residency and seeing as there are no border controls then perhaps a friend could buy some gasoline on the day you leave France (to goto Spain) then give you the receipt as evidence of when you left France!

I have only given you the idea because you have said you have a garage so the vehicle is technically off the road anyway, having said that the vehicle will have to be completely road legal in the country of registration, so will have to go back to France at least once a year for that.

Insurance wise is an mixed bag, you may find a specialist insurer who will gladly do it for you but most of the big companies will not, they may say they will but double check the terms and conditions and as most will clearly say it will not be covered.

Personally I wouldn't run the risk, you must have an NIE number from your property purchase so just buy a cheap Spanish plated car and have done with it and not have to worry about being stopped!

Note to anyone else reading: this can not be done with the UK as they want Ferry/Tunnel tickets as evidence! Hard luck I know!!

El Capitan

Are you suggesting Zel, that any days or weeks spent in a garage or similar within Spain is technically off-road and does not count as vehicle time in Spain? If this is the case, keeping a bike in a shed whenever it rains adds up to a whole load of weeks when the bike is "nowhere" ?

jdr

I don`t know what happens now, but before you had to get customs and excise to seal the doors of the car up and then unseal them when it was to be used again.

zel

No I'm saying because it's off the road and on his own land and away from prying eyes then the chances of the police saying "We'll sir we've seen it parked outside your house or on a public road for 8 months" is limited but never the less still there.

It all depends on how much you don't want to keep looking over your shoulder, for me as I said I would just buy a Spanish plated run about as for something that would get very little use the risks do not seem to be worth it.

El Capitan

Yeah I had heard about this but a tad OTT to call them out each time it rains to seal the shed and again each time the sun comes out.

El Capitan

OK, so same logic I used to keep bike in garden shed out of weather and out of sight. Never keep anything parked outside the house anyway. Plenty of room in the driveway and under the car port.

zel

Well the law is there to either break or comply and it's completely upto the person involved to decide what route they wish to take.

Tho having a vehicle in a car port/driveway which is clearly visably to people walking/driving past is a different risk altogether than what I mentioned and having it UK plated even more so.

Don't get me wrong, I don't agree with the law on this, it's completely silly, but it is the law and for one, I will be doing it the legal way as it's not the sort of beginning I want to take.

El Capitan

OK, just to be clear, Spanish plated car sits in driveway in clear view of anyone who peers through the screening, UK plated bike used to sit out of sight altogether but now its Spanish plated, it is less of an issue but it is kept out of the worst weather regardless of its plate.

zel

I was talking in a more general sense mate.

Dxf

Hi
Sorry Zel, I hate trying to correct you but there is no such thing as "off road" in Spain. Just try buying a quad bike to use in your own garden !!!
To be legal, any vehicle must be legal in its country of origin, and returned within the 180 day time limit
Dave

parispete

Well, first let me thank all of you who put in their quid's worth, but it sounds as if I might be okay. Because the car would be driven from Paris to Malaga and then back again within a couple of months.
So as long as I kept petrol dockets as evidence of the thing being moved between the two countries, the 180 day clock should start whenever I cross into Spain from France.
But as you say, the next worry is who would give me reliable insurance. Hmmm.