Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

DRIVING

EXPLAINED: What the licence exchange extension means for British drivers in Spain

The UK Embassy in Madrid has announced that British drivers who registered their details to exchange their UK driving licences for Spanish ones before the end of last year will get an extra six months in which to carry out the swap. But what does the extension not cover for British drivers?

Published: 28 May 2021 12:53 CEST
EXPLAINED: What the licence exchange extension means for British drivers in Spain
Will British licence holders in Spain be able to drive in Spain after June 30th 2021?Photo: Pau Barrena/AFP

“If you registered your details to exchange your UK driving licence for a Spanish licence before the end of last year, the deadline of June 30th 2021 has been extended until December 31st 2021, to allow you more time to complete your licence exchange” wrote the British Embassy in a Facebook post on Thursday May 28th.  

“If you have attempted to complete the exchange of your licence since January 1st but your application was rejected due to your TIE being dated to 2021, the DGT office will get in touch with you directly to arrange for the completion of the exchange. If this is your situation, and you do not hear anything after a few weeks, you should request an appointment with the DGT. “

This is good news overall, especially given that processing delays in Spanish residency applications meant many British drivers in Spain faced missing the deadline for exchanging their UK driving licences for Spanish ones by June 30th 2021, and would consequently have to sit their exam again.

READ MORE: How residency hold-ups could mean many Brits in Spain need to sit their driving test again

“The DGT has also confirmed that both the green residence document and the TIE are valid proof of residence when completing the exchange,” the British Embassy added.

“You can see the Spanish government’s bilingual nota aclaratoria that states the ongoing validity of the green residency certificate here. 

However, “the current date for recognition of UK licences for driving in Spain for those who are resident in Spain remains 30th June 2021”, the UK Embassy stressed. 

“This means that we don’t know yet whether British licence holders will be able to drive in Spain from July onwards,” Anne Hernández, head of Brexpats in Spain, told The Local.

“I worry people will interpret this extension of the period in which to process the licence exchange as an extension of the validity of their UK licences, when so far it is not that.”

“This applies whether you registered before December 30th 2020 or have not yet started the process to exchange your UK licence for a Spanish licence,” British diplomatic sources clarified. 

“What happens if these people don’t get to exchange their licence before July or August? Can they continue driving on the road?” Hernández asked.

“What happens if they get into an accident? Will they still be covered by insurance?

“If they get stopped by police, will the officers have a list of Brits who pre-registered before December 30th 2020 but haven’t been able to process the exchange? I don’t think so.

“The extension is a solution for those who haven’t been able to process their licence exchange, either because they’ve not received their residency approval (carta de resolución) firstly or haven’t been able to get an appointment. 

“But my concern for them is what happens if they drive in Spain after June 30th 2021.”

In the meantime, the UK continues to discuss arrangements for the future exchange of UK driving licences without the need for Brits to have to sit a Spanish driving test, negotiations which have been ongoing since 2020.

READ MORE:

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

BRITONS IN SPAIN

FACT CHECK: Spain’s ‘£97 daily rule’ isn’t new nor a worry for British tourists

The British tabloids are at it again causing alarm over the so-called '£97 daily rule’ which Spain is apparently imposing on UK tourists, who in turn are threatening to ‘boycott’ the country. 

Published: 15 April 2024 14:28 CEST
Updated: 20 April 2024 07:22 CEST
FACT CHECK: Spain's '£97 daily rule' isn't new nor a worry for British tourists

American playwright Eugene O’Neill once said: “There is no present or future – only the past, happening over and over again – now”.

In 2022, The Local Spain wrote a fact-checking article titled ‘Are UK tourists in Spain really being asked to prove €100 a day?‘, in which we dispelled the claims made in the British press about Spain’s alleged new rules for UK holidaymakers.

Two years on in 2024, the same eye-catching headlines are resurfacing in Blighty: “’Anti-British? Holiday elsewhere!’ Britons fume as tourists in Spain warned they may be subject to additional rules” in GB News, or “’They would be begging us to come back’: Brits vow to ‘boycott Spain’ over new £97 daily rule” in LBC.

The return of this rabble-rousing ‘news’ in the UK has coincided with calls within Spain to change the existing mass tourism model that’s now more than ever having an impact on the country’s housing crisis.

Even though Spaniards behind the protests have not singled out any foreign nationals as potential culprits, the UK tabloids have unsurprisingly capitalised on this and run headlines such as “Costa del Sol turns on British tourists”.

READ MORE: Why does hatred of tourists in Spain appear to be on the rise?

What is the so-called ‘£97 daily rule’?

Yes, there is theoretically a ‘£97 a day rule’, but it is not a new rule, nor one that applies only to UK nationals specifically, and not even one that Spain alone has imposed (all Schengen countries set their financial means threshold).

As non-EU nationals who are not from a Schengen Area country either (the United Kingdom never was in Schengen), British tourists entering Spain could have certain requirements with which to comply if asked by Spanish border officials.

Such requirements include a valid passport, proof of a return ticket, documents proving their purpose of entry into Spain, limits on the amount of time they can spend in Spain (the 90 out of 180 days Schengen rule), proof of accommodation, a letter of invitation if staying with friends or family (another controversial subject in the British press when it emerged) and yes, proof of sufficient financial means for the trip.

Third-country nationals who want to enter Spain in 2024 may need to prove they have at least €113,40 per day (around £97), with a minimum of €972 (around £830) per person regardless of the intended duration of the stay. It is unclear whether this could also possibly apply to minors.

The amount of financial means to prove has increased slightly in 2024 as it is linked to Spain’s minimum wage, which has also risen. 

Financial means can be accredited by presenting cash, traveller’s checks, credit cards accompanied by a bank account statement, an up-to-date bank book or any other means that proves the amount available as credit on a card or bank account.

Have Britons been prevented from entering Spain for not having enough money?

There is no evidence that UK holidaymakers have been prevented from entering Spain after not being able to show they have £97 a day to cover their stay, nor any reports that they have been asked to show the financial means to cover their stay either. 

17.3 million UK tourists visited Spain in 2023; equal to roughly 47,400 a day. 

Even though British tourists have to stand in the non-EU queue at Spanish passport control, they do not require a visa to enter Spain and the sheer number of UK holidaymakers means that they’re usually streamlined through the process, having to only quickly show their passports.

The only occasional hiccups that have arisen post-Brexit have been at the land border between Gibraltar and Spain (issued that are likely to be resolved soon), and these weren’t related to demonstrating financial means. 

Therefore, the British press are regurgitating alarmist headlines that don’t reflect any truth, but rather pander to the ‘they need us more than we need them’ mantra that gets readers clicking. 

To sum up, there is a £97 a day rule, but it is not new, it has not affected any British tourists to date, and it is not specific to Spain alone to potentially require proof of economic means. 

SHOW COMMENTS