Live News From Spain As It Happens

For decades, learning to drive in an automatic car came with a serious sting in the tail across Spain and the wider EU. Pass your practical driving test in a vehicle with two pedals, and the traffic authorities promptly stamped a restrictive "Code 78" onto the back of your photocard licence. If you ever wanted to drive a manual car—whether borrowing a friend's runaround or picking up a budget hire car at Málaga Airport—you had no choice but to go through the entire ordeal of booking and passing another practical exam from scratch.

Now, that administrative headache is finally on its way out. Under newly approved EU driving licence reforms (Directive 2025/2205), Spain’s Directorate-General for Traffic (Dirección General de Tráfico, or DGT) is preparing to scrap the Code 78 restriction, replacing the re-test requirement with a straightforward seven-hour certified training course.

The Death of an Outdated Rule

The Code 78 restriction was originally designed in an era when automatic gearboxes were expensive, gas-guzzling rarities found only in luxury saloons or adapted mobility vehicles. Across Spain, traditional driving schools (autoescuelas) overwhelmingly taught in small manual diesels, and learning clutch control was viewed as an essential rite of passage.

The motoring landscape has shifted completely:

• The Rise of Electrification: With pure electric vehicles (EVs), plug-in hybrids, and mild hybrids taking over Spanish showroom floors, manual gearboxes are rapidly vanishing from brand-new model line-ups.

• Changing Learner Habits: Novice drivers increasingly want to learn in automatics, which eliminate the stress of stalling on steep Andalusian hill starts and allow learners to focus purely on road positioning and hazard awareness.

• The DGT’s Official Backing: Spanish traffic chiefs openly endorse modern automatics, highlighting that advanced electronic gearboxes accelerate more smoothly, deliver superior fuel economy, and lower carbon emissions compared to human gear-shifting.

As Sergio Olivera, president of Spain’s National Confederation of Driving Schools (CNAE), recently noted, removing this friction will make the automatic car the natural "gateway" to driving rather than a restrictive niche.

How the Seven-Hour Course Will Work

Once the new framework is formally written into Spanish law, the pathway to upgrade your entitlement will be handled directly through licensed driving schools rather than official DGT examiners:

• No Formal Re-Test: Drivers will no longer have to sit an official practical examination or deal with the notorious waiting lists at regional provincial traffic headquarters (Jefaturas de Tráfico).

• Targeted Curriculum: The seven-hour syllabus will focus on mechanical vehicle control: mastering the clutch bite point, operating the manual gear stick, executing hill starts, and engine braking.

• Dual-Control Instruction: The course will combine off-road familiarisation with supervised driving on public roads accompanied by a certified instructor.

• Direct Administrative Sign-Off: Upon completing the seven hours, the driving school will issue an official certificate, enabling the DGT to reissue the licence without the Code 78 restriction.

When Does It Take Effect? Mind the Bureaucratic Gap

While the European directive received approval in late 2025, the seven-hour upgrade cannot be used just yet.

Before local autoescuelas can begin enrolling students for the conversion courses, the Spanish government and the Ministry of the Interior must formally publish the transposing Royal Decree in the Official State Gazette (Boletín Oficial del Estado, or BOE) and define the technical training protocols. Until that occurs, anyone caught driving a manual car on an automatic-only licence remains liable for prosecution.

What This Means for British Expats and Families

For British residents in Spain, the shift brings practical advantages:

1. Expats Exchanging Licences: British nationals who hold UK automatic licences and swap them for Spanish permits under the post-Brexit bilateral exchange agreement have their Code 78 restriction carried across automatically. Once this scheme opens, upgrading to a full unrestricted manual licence in Spain will be significantly easier.

2. Expat Teenagers Learning to Drive: Getting a 17- or 18-year-old through the Spanish permiso B can be a daunting process, particularly with the notoriously tricky theoretical test. Letting them pass their practical exam in an automatic car—and later taking a low-stress seven-hour manual top-up—will save families hundreds of euros in failed exam fees.

3. Hire Car Flexibility: While automatic hire cars have become far more common at Spanish holiday airports, entry-level manual cars are still generally cheaper to rent during peak summer months.

Over to You: A Sensible Modernisation or a Safety Shortcut?

Do you think a seven-hour course provides enough time to master clutch control and manual hill starts on Spain's winding mountain roads? Or is it high time traffic laws caught up with modern automotive technology?