Cars with foreign number plates

Just got this today, 2nd hand car prices in spain will be going even higher..-----------------------------------------------------

Cars with foreign number plates - if the car has been in Spain for more than one month it must be registered on Spanish number plates. Previously foreigners could keep their car in Spain for 6 months and often left them on foreign plates for much longer, however the police will now check how long the vehicle has been in Spain and issue fines for those not obeying the new law.

For much of 2013 my wife and I decided to take a year off from our work in France and get to know Spain, a country we had lived next too for 30-years but never visited. We spent most of the time in Spain with visits to Portugal and to/from France. All this time we used our 2 French registered cars.

If this 1-month rule was applied what would we need to do? Register the car after 1-month in Spain then re-register it onto French plates when we left.

Most of the cars on non Spanish plates and there were quite a few around Soto where we were based and Murcia where we visited friends, seem to be from Germany or UK plates. I wonder how this rule would impact the amount of time the owners would spen in Spain if they had to register their cars for the time they were visiting their holiday or second homes.

Rossetti

II think it might only apply to residents not to foreign visitors

Rubbish! Totally against EU rules as vehicles are allowed to remain in a country for up to 6 months unless you are taking up residency in which case the vehicle is to be registered in Spain and that applies in all EU countries including UK.  Nowhere in the new rules, as set out by eos ian on the other thread, does it say you have to put it on Spansih plates after one month.

 What it may mean, and still to be confirmed, is that if you are staying for longer than 3 months you will have to register your car with trafico so they know your address in case of traffic violations. Nowhere does it say you have to put it on Spanish plates. 

Think about it. You come to Spain for 5 weeks. You have to have the lights changed, change the speedo to kms (if it's a Brit car), put it on Spanish plates. Then you go back to UK (or Germany, or Denmark or whatever) and have to change it all over again. 

Rumour control is getting a bit out of hand. 

mariedav----- Did i not say it was for residents not to foreign visitors in my post ? Thanks for the lecturer, , you say==What it may mean, and still to be confirmed===so your just having a little a guess are you not. Keep to facts and not to the rubbish as you say.

 

No, you didn't say it was for residents, you said if a car had been in Spain for more than a month it had to be registered on Spanish plates. The rule for up to 6 months has been for visitors, not for residents.

If you move to Spain to take up residency, the rule has always been that you must register your car on Spanish plates straight away. 

Read again my post 25 Mar 2014 22:27  and tell me what the eighth word in the post says, here is a clue it starts with R

First post 25 Mar 2014 20:50------2nd post 25 Mar 2014 22:27----23 minutes in between and Rossetti post at 25 Mar 2014 22:03, so it was hardly slipped in, just because you did not see it, dont blame me, So the next time you come on here and tell people they are talking rubbish, i suggest you go to specsavers

 

blueeyes-------------- Come on then tell us all whats wrong with it, dont give us half a tail.
 

Foreign residents and those keeping vehicles in Spain for use will be obliged to register their vehicles in Spain, and with Spanish plates. Until now the obligation has been only to meet special tax requirements, but as a result it has proved difficult to fine foreign residents for road traffic offences.

This new requirement will apply to both residents and the owners of businesses in Spain, and to all vehicles which are to be used on Spanish roads other than those which are here for a vacational visit only.

Police can use a variety of ways to prove if a vehicle has been in the country for more than one month, such as checking insurance paperwork, ITV documentation and vehicle taxation records, so if you own a vehicle in Spain, it must now be transferred onto Spanish plates if it is to be driven on the roads in Spain

look very carefully at the second para

Foreign residents and those keeping vehicles in Spain for use will be obliged to register their vehicles in Spain, and with Spanish plates. Until now the obligation has been only to meet special tax requirements, but as a result it has proved difficult to fine foreign residents for road traffic offences.

This new requirement will apply to both residents and the owners of businesses in Spain, and to all vehicles which are to be used on Spanish roads other than those which are here for a vacational visit only.

Police can use a variety of ways to prove if a vehicle has been in the country for more than one month, such as checking insurance paperwork, ITV documentation and vehicle taxation records, so if you own a vehicle in Spain, it must now be transferred onto Spanish plates if it is to be driven on the roads in Spain

look very carefully at the second para

Foreign residents and those keeping vehicles in Spain for use will be obliged to register their vehicles in Spain, and with Spanish plates. Until now the obligation has been only to meet special tax requirements, but as a result it has proved difficult to fine foreign residents for road traffic offences.

This new requirement will apply to both residents and the owners of businesses in Spain, and to all vehicles which are to be used on Spanish roads other than those which are here for a vacational visit only.

Police can use a variety of ways to prove if a vehicle has been in the country for more than one month, such as checking insurance paperwork, ITV documentation and vehicle taxation records, so if you own a vehicle in Spain, it must now be transferred onto Spanish plates if it is to be driven on the roads in Spain

look very carefully at the second para

Foreign residents and those keeping vehicles in Spain for use will be obliged to register their vehicles in Spain, and with Spanish plates. Until now the obligation has been only to meet special tax requirements, but as a result it has proved difficult to fine foreign residents for road traffic offences.

This new requirement will apply to both residents and the owners of businesses in Spain, and to all vehicles which are to be used on Spanish roads other than those which are here for a vacational visit only.

Police can use a variety of ways to prove if a vehicle has been in the country for more than one month, such as checking insurance paperwork, ITV documentation and vehicle taxation records, so if you own a vehicle in Spain, it must now be transferred onto Spanish plates if it is to be driven on the roads in Spain

look very carefully at the second paragraph.

Foreign residents and those keeping vehicles in Spain for use will be obliged to register their vehicles in Spain, and with Spanish plates. Until now the obligation has been only to meet special tax requirements, but as a result it has proved difficult to fine foreign residents for road traffic offences.

This new requirement will apply to both residents and the owners of businesses in Spain, and to all vehicles which are to be used on Spanish roads other than those which are here for a vacational visit only.

Police can use a variety of ways to prove if a vehicle has been in the country for more than one month, such as checking insurance paperwork, ITV documentation and vehicle taxation records, so if you own a vehicle in Spain, it must now be transferred onto Spanish plates if it is to be driven on the roads in Spain

look very carefully at the second paragraph.

Foreign residents and those keeping vehicles in Spain for use will be obliged to register their vehicles in Spain, and with Spanish plates. Until now the obligation has been only to meet special tax requirements, but as a result it has proved difficult to fine foreign residents for road traffic offences.

This new requirement will apply to both residents and the owners of businesses in Spain, and to all vehicles which are to be used on Spanish roads other than those which are here for a vacational visit only.

Police can use a variety of ways to prove if a vehicle has been in the country for more than one month, such as checking insurance paperwork, ITV documentation and vehicle taxation records, so if you own a vehicle in Spain, it must now be transferred onto Spanish plates if it is to be driven on the roads in Spain

look very carefully at the second paragraph.

haydngj is perfectly correct (all 4 times).

This new rule is for those who have kept cars in Spain for use whilst visiting and didn't use them for more than 6 months in any one year. 

For permanent residents importing a UK car, the rule has always been that you have 30 days in which to rematriculate it. You are only allowed to drive it from the port of entry to your residence and then apply to trafico to put it on Spanish plates. You would be issued a temporary green license plate which is valid for 30 days to allow you to complete the procedure.

Residents, or those intending to take out residency, are not allowed to keep the car for 6 months before carrying out this procedure as this only applies to those who are visiting and intend to take the car back to its country of origin.

Yes, I know, there are loads of Brit (and other EU) plated cars around. This has been no problem provided it has not been used for more than 6 months in any one year by your or by anybody else. Of course, the car should be taken back to UK to MOT and get a road fund license (or whatever they're called now) but we've all seen many that don't.

This new "law" means that if you keep a car here permanently but only visit, it must be put on Spanish plates. 

I suppose it would avoid the dark looks from those expats who have done it properly and think you have an old and illegal banger on the road. 

The other bit was about registering it with trafico. Much like you are supposed to register your UK photo driving license with trafico if you are here for more than 3 months, this new legislation proposes the same thing should happen with long stay vehicles. It doesn't give a time limit, just that it should be registered (not replated) after a "designated vacation period". 

Edited to say:

Actually he was right all six times before someone suggests I go to Specsavers!

got a little excited with the posts. sorry for the extra posts. Homer said he had a problem with my reply and was going to fix it. He did it after the first post it seems