teddy14

is it possible to buy and insure a car without one, only Im moving to spain at the weekend and need a car to get about, but IM going to be living with a friend so I wont have a rental agreement.

El Capitan

Hi teddy, obviously it varies from region to region but I do not have padron (yet) but have bought and insured car with no problem. You do need an address and NIE to buy and register a car though.

scampicat

We didn't need it to register for healthcare (we did need to show our residency cards though), or to buy a house or a motorbike.

And as I said above, we registered when we first came here and we have never been asked to provide a new copy.

Mitzyboy

as opposed to here, where we had to go and register on the padron to enable us to register a car in our name .... without it we were unable to do so.

bokeh

If you are going to live here you should register. Ask for multiple copies (they cost 0€) because almost every time you use one the body involved wants to keep an original. Also, the certificate is usually not accepted as valid after 90 days so you would need to go back for more copies every time you need to use it. Being on the Padron doesn't automatically inscribe you for electoral purposes. For that you need to fill in a form renouncing the use of your right to vote in local and EU elections from elsewhere.

El Capitan

Which ..... if you think about it, would stop someone who has a holiday home here and is not in Spain enough to be formally resident or empadronamiento here, from registering a car in his/her name.

scampicat

And why should they not be able to do that?

There is a Dutch lady who I know quite well, she is not resident here, she has a holiday home and has just bought another car from the same Spanish garage she bought her first one from. They have both been registered in her name and she leaves it in someone's garage so that she can use it when she is here. It is fully ITV'd etc.

Is there a problem with that?

El Capitan

Not a problem at all scampicat. But did she have to have padron to buy the car? Your example is exactly what I was thinking about and I am sure a lot of "occassional residents" might choose that solution for convenience.

As far as I was aware, especially if not from the UK you cannot be padron in two places.

Mitzyboy

There never used to be a problem signing on the padron in Sp[ain if you owned a home here but weren't resident, as the town hall used to welcome you with open arms as it effected their funding

bokeh

I just bought a new car (first registration) and had to be in the Padron and be inscribed at Hacienda as a tax payer (which requires obtaining an N.I.E. then visiting the tax office with N.I.E certificate and Padron certificate).

scampicat

AFAIK, she does not have the padron.

We bought our motorbike,brand new, as residents, without the Padron (although we did have it, the salesman didn't ask to see it). I think all he asked for was our Residencia card.