Bomber Harris

I knew I'd find the info if I looked for it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_driving_licence

The EU Directive can be found on the right hand side of the page if you want to read the relevant law without anyone's interpretation/summary.

JDR,

You're right in what you are saying, but a minibus has by definition between 8 and 16 passenger seats, if you passed your car test before 01/01/97 (I could be wrong on the year) you automatically got D1 for minibuses with the restriction "not for hire or reward". What you have described with the Council does only apply to charity/school minibuses.
Perhaps I have taken Playamonte's use of the word minibus literally and he does in fact mean a people carrier (less than 8 passenger seats), in which case he would be covered by his car licence.

jdr

Yeah, they were called minibus or a van with seats long before they became people carriers.

VFR

No I mean minibus & not people carrier.

Bomber Harris

In which case you will need D1 on your licence, contrary to what you were told.

bfg69bug

do you own a car? a spanish one? how did you transfer it ? or have you had it for the last 5 years ?

missile

Maybe you should swop it for a Polish License, that seems to work well in Ireland
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/7899171.stm

EsuriJohn

Yes; No; No. The one I am going to import to Spain I have owned for the past 11 years and low and behold, looking at another thread on here, it is a Skoda a 1.9 diesel that is as sound as a pound but worthless in UK so I am going to keep it here and see if the locals can destroy it. It is incedently the last of the originals but with the VW diesel installed so it will no doubt go on for ever!

snikpoh

I thought I was doing so well with swapping my DL for a Spanish one.

Today I got my temporary one but it came with some issues;

• I can only drive in Spain - and this may be for up to 3 months
• I have lost my motorbike category
• I can not drive minibuses

The first item is an issue for when I attend a funeral back in UK - what do I do?

The second item is crucial so that I can (legally) ride my bike.

The third is not too bad but do I have to now take a new test in Spain for this category ( I do need to drive one occasionally)!

jdr

The second one happened to a lot of people in the UK too when they changed to the photo licence.
A guy that had ridden a motorbike for 30 odd years had to take a test as he never kept his pass certificate to prove he had passed his test before.

snikpoh

Ah S**T!!!!

My certificate was never returned to me when I got my licence (some 35+ years ago).

Do I have to go back to trafico (some 100Km away) and complain? Will they listen?

VFR

Do you have a photocopy of your old UK licence entitlements, if so take this to traffico (I assume you did not use a Gestor) and they can then see that you did have the motorbike entitlement.

Fred James

I believe that you can get a "Certificate of Entitlement" from the DVLA to show just what you are entitled to drive.

bfg69bug

im sorry, but do you realise how ironic these two statements make your signature?

you tell everyone to sign onto the padron, yet you have a uk plated car and have not signed onto the register of foreigners?

just makes me chuckle, thats all.

in answer to your question, you need a NEW padron, (under 3 months old), a NEW NIE on green paper (which is actually the register of foreigners paperwork / new residencia), 10,20€ in cash, and both parts of your uk licence. if your 10 year photocard has run out, you need a medical.

do traffico accept this or does it need a translation fred ?

Fred James

They should accept it as it as driving licence classes are standard across the EU but I don't personally know anyone who had done it.

EsuriJohn

You make assumptions that are not well founded. the Skoda has never been here it is back in UK being brought up to scratch to sail through the first ITV including lights. We have been moving out slowly not having spent more than 10 weeks continuous here but the planned move over date is this month. I do not have two parts to my licence so that will not be a problem. I signed on the Padron as soon as we bought our plot when the green paper had not even been thought of and as long as the system is as strange as it is and the politicians as corrupt as they are I urge all to sign on and try to remove those that take our taxes and line thir own pockets.