A little word of warning

Hi,

A friend of mine has a uk reg car ,he's had it here 15 months.  He has valid spanish insurance and because his mot ran out he got a spanish itv. He also wanted to confirm he would be insured and so he wrote to his insurer, he has now recieved a letter saying his insurance is covered with this itv.

He got pulled over the other day by the Guadia civil for 'a routine check' after the spanish inquisition in perfect english the officer then told him the car was illegal and need to change the plates etc now!

Oh and make sure you have the original documents not copies...they dont accept them...

This followed by a fine of 450 euros and  was made to take the vehicle off the road untill the plates were changed.

I have within the last few days heard of a chap in a village who had a similar problem.  They just impounded his car!

An ex bank manager friend  was driving with his wife the other day, suddenly a guadia civil car pulled in front of them.  Routine check again..and then said 'you were driving to close to that cyclist' and gave them a fine of 150 euros.

They were not happy especially when there never was a cyclist on the road...

Unfortunately it is your word against there's there solicitor told them.

I have also heard of guadia civil charging people for rolling over a stop line on the road.

We are going through a tough time at the moment and so just keep an eye out and keep to the speed limits and road signs.  As we are in a crisis, it appears they need to get some revenue in anyway it takes!  Look after your money rather than give it away to them

Good luck and Happy motoring

Kind regards

www.holisticmassage4u.co.uk

There is MUCH in this forum about a UK registered car having to go back to the UK for a valid MOT unless it has been registered in Spain within 6 months which means it then has Spanish number plates!

There is a major problem with UK registered cars in Spain where the rules are very clear that a car can only be used in Spain for 6 months and then has to be re-registere which is not difficult or too expensive & In the case of your friend, this is not a reflection on the Guarda officers, simply the case that the car was actually ilegal in Spain, regardless of it having a Spanish ITV or insurance

In my own case I re-registered a car, which I have now sold on, using a company and inciuding the headlight change it cost me around €900, worth doing because of the lower cost of cars in the UK 

There are also large numbers of British registered cars being used some other nationalities because they are more difficult to trace, again another growing problem and, because of the price that people can buy these at, the buyers just dump them if they have a problem

Now I do not disagree with your comments that the Guarda can on occasions be over zealous in their application of the law but while some of these cars have been in Spain for years they will remain an easy target for the law

I would like to see the Guardia Civil stop more British cars.  They don't seem to bother down where we are and if they did, they would pocket a large amount of money in fines.  99% of the British registered cars are illegal (no tax, MOT and therefore invalid insurance) from what I've seen.  And there are some real deathtrap cars driving around.

Just another bit to add. I was told by a friend that it is now an offence and on the spot fine for not stopping at an un-automated pedestrian crossing when people are waiting to cross.

Another told but I am sure you are all aware of it that it is an offence to stop on a motorway hard sholder to change a puncture.

Also the outside lane rule on a roundabout

Perhaps their is a need to read the Spanish Highway code. (Thats if they have one)

Most of all to remember we are driving in Spain and not UK.

The cyclist post reminds me of Hyacinth Bucket poor old Richard.

JB