Could somebody please clear this up for me ?

Upto what cc bike are you allowed to drive on a full UK driving licence and does the same apply when in Spain ?

Does it differ for each individual person ?

Thank you in advance.

Tom.

I don't know what you can do in UK, but in Spain, if you have had a UK car licence for 3 years, you can drive a motorcycle up to 125cc.

Brilliant thank you Fred.

Just read a thread on a forum from 2007 and somebody said exactly the same.

Can't see anything would have changed since then.

Are you sure (I'm sure you are correct but ...)?

How does that work then?

When my wife exchanged her licence to a Spanish one, this category was not allocated to her even though she had held her UK licence for over 20 years.

Just looking now, she has no motorbike categories listed. Do the Guardia just 'assume' one can ride a 125 based on the dates of the licence?

Because it is a concession, it is not shown as a group on your licence. If it was, you would be able to ride a 125cc motorcycle outside of Spain and that concession only applies in Spain.

The relevant law states:-

No obstante, las personas que estén en posesión del permiso de la clase B en vigor, con una antigüedad superior a tres años, podrán conducir dentro del territorio nacional las motocicletas cuya conducción autoriza el permiso de la clase A1.

It is not clear what the answer is to the question in red is. If you have a UK D.L. the Spanish rules apply? Or do you have to register the UK D.L. with the Spanish authorities for the Spanish rules to apply? Is yours?
It is certain that you can drive a 125 with a car licence with a Spanish S.L
WIKI.
Re-reading the article it is also down to when your D:L was issued too.

If you have a valid UK licence, then I would assume that "mutual recognition" of EU licences would give you the same right to ride the motorcycle.

I doubt that you will easily find a definitive answer to the question, but it just depends on the Guardia officer that stops you.

The driving licence must have been held for at least 3 years to get this concession.

What do you mean by this? This is not done any more - it's not a requirement!

You either drive a UK DL (the EU plastic one) or you exchange this for a Spanish DL (plastic EU one).

No registration, stamping or anything else is required.

It's still optional.

1. Holders of driving licenses issued in any of these states who acquired their normal residence in Spain, subject to the provisions of the preceding article, may volunteer at any Provincial Traffic annotation data permission in the register of drivers and offenders.

Mutual recognition is the tricky point of this question. As you say depends on the GC who stops you. Which then brings in the question is it worth a risk?

Did not know about the 3 waiting period.

Yep sorry living in the past.
You are obliged to exchange under these rules.

I suspect that there are very few UK licence holders who have the old paper licence. If you have the current photocard licence you are not obliged to exchange your licence.

OK, but around here they simply will NOT do it. We've taken people to do it (as we help them with interpreting) but trafico have simply sent us away stating that this wasn't done any more. Clearly every where is different.

Correct but if you plan to drive in the UK and the address on your UK DL is not your residence you could end up being fined if caught or stopped by the police for a check etc. as it is an offence in the UK not to inform the DVLA of an address change (the DVLA do not chase you).


Also I think the rules may have changed in the UK to stop you using friends / relatives addresses for example if you need to change address on your UK licence you have to prove the past 3 years of UK residency address(es)


IMO if you live permanently in Spain then change your licence for a Spanish one it is easy to do and you can always change it back if needed.

So if you have a Spainsh licence you can ride a 125cc in Spain, but can you ride a 125cc in the UK using a Spainsh licence?