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Electric scooters in Spain: What are the rules and latest changes?

E-scooters and other personal mobility vehicles are becoming increasingly common in Spain, particularly in large cities, but they have also been causing lots of problems. Find out what the latest rules and changes regarding VMPs are.

Published: 22 February 2022 16:26 CET
e-scooters in Spain
E-scooter rules in Spain. Photo: Mircea - See my collections / Pixabay

An electric scooter or Personal Mobility Vehicle (VMP) is defined by Spain’s General Vehicle Regulations as a vehicle with one or more wheels, equipped with a single seat and propelled solely and exclusively by electric motors, which can give it a speed of up to 25km/h. 

This means that VMPs also include things such as hoverboards, electric unicycles and segways. 

According to the latest study by Spain’s Ministry of Development, around 6.7 percent of homes in Spain have a VMP. This means that there are more than half a million VMPs in the country. 

Problems and complaints

Electronic scooters and other personal mobility vehicles VMPs have become somewhat of a problem recently with people taking over pavements, riding really fast through pedestrianised areas, people wearing headphones so they’re not able to hear the traffic and not wearing helmets.

According to the latest data, in 2020 eight users of VMPs died, 97 were hospitalised and 1,097 suffered various injuries.

These numbers suggest that there is a growing problem and lead the Director General de Tráfico (DGT) recently to announce new changes. 

Latest changes

The biggest change is that while you still don’t need a driving licence to ride an VMP, you will need to make sure that the vehicle has a circulation certificate. 

This document is the responsibility of the manufacturers and brands, so you don’t have to worry about how to get one, but you will have to check that any VMP you decide to buy does have one. 

As of January 2024, all the VMPs that are sold will have to have this certificate and comply with all the requirements. If you have a VMP without a certificate, you will only be able to use it until January 2027. 

The DGT has also outlined the minimum technical standards, which each vehicle must comply with. This includes maximum weight, length and height requirements as well as a braking system.

They must also have white reflectors on the front, white or yellow reflectors on the side and red ones to the rear. Wheels must have a rough surface and the VMP must have a safe folding system.

Rules

The current MVP rules as outlined by the DGT are:

  • You must drive carefully, avoiding endangering other road users
  • You must not drive on the pavements: it is prohibited
  • You must respect the signs and pedestrian crossings
  • You must not ride with headphones in: in addition to being very dangerous, it is prohibited.
  • Only one person is permitted ride on a scooter at a time
  • You must wear a helmet
  • You are only allowed to park in the authorised places, as directed by your municipality
  • The person responsible for any incident is the driver, or their parents, if they are a minor
  • The minimum age requirement to ride a VMP is 16
  • VMPs are not allowed on interurban roads, highways, highway crossings and urban tunnels

Fines and consequences

If you are found to be breaking any of the rules above, you could be fined. 

Driving a VMP with headphones will incur a fine of €200, as will using a mobile phone while driving. If two people are riding the same scooter at the same time they will be fined €100 euros.

The DGT has also introduced a 0.0 alcohol rate for driving VMPs, meaning that you can’t drink at all before or while riding them. Failure to abide by this will also incur a hefty fine. 

Is it mandatory to get insurance for my VMP?

While the DGT has made it clear that it wants to make insurance obligatory for VMPs, it is not mandatory yet as a general rule for the whole of Spain. 

However, some regions and cities have their own rules regarding insurance. For example, in Benidorm, Alicante and Barcelona, ​​it is mandatory to take out electric scooter insurance, while in Murcia it’s currently not. 

If you’re unsure about the rules for your region, check with your local DGT office.

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DRIVING

How to change the registered address for your car if you move in Spain

If you move within Spain and change address, you'll also need to change the registered address for your car in order to pay vehicle tax. Here's how to do it.

Published: 25 March 2024 15:31 CET
How to change the registered address for your car if you move in Spain

When you buy a car in Spain the driving authority, the Dirección General de Tráfico (DGT), asks you to register your car so that you (and they) can have a reference of where it is, who owns it and, crucially, where you’ll pay tax on it.

This information is necessary because paying vehicle tax in Spain (known as Impuesto sobre Vehículos de Tracción Mecánica or IVTM) depends on where in the country you live, and differs slightly depending on the municipality where you are registered.

You pay the tax in the municipality in which the vehicle is registered, and though the exact amount depends on your area and the type of car you have, generally speaking the annual tax is between €112 and €300 for the year.

READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: What you need to know about road tax in Spain

IVTM is a tax you pay at the municipal level, that is, to your local town hall. According to the DGT, “the Traffic Tax of a vehicle is a mandatory tax that is applied on all motor vehicles, allowing them to circulate on public roads throughout the country”.

But what happens if you move?

Well, it depends. If you’re moving but staying within the same municipality, not much, but if you’re moving across the country to a new part of Spain, you’ll need to change your car’s registered address with the DGT.

How can you request a change of tax address for your car in Spain?

Any change of tax address must be requested by the owner of the vehicle or a duly authorised person on their behalf. There are four ways to request it:

Online – this is done through the DGT’s website, which you can find here. If it’s a general application, you shouldn’t need to attach any documentation. You can simply change the address of all your vehicles or select only those you wish to modify, choosing between the registration address or the tax address of the owner.

For vehicles moving from the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla to the Spanish mainland peninsula or the Balearic Islands, or agricultural vehicles or those with any type of legal limitations or restrictions, you must make the application through the special cases option (supuestos especiales on the DGT website).

In this case, you essentially need to get documentation proving that the car has been cleared through customs. If it is an agricultural vehicle, you will need to provide the document showing that you have reported the change in Spain’s Official Register of Agricultural Machinery (ROMA).

By phone –- call 060, which is the number in Spain to get through to the Servicio de Información de la Administración General del Estado, essentially the go-to contact number for all things public services and administration. You can contact the DGT through this number, where they will check that the address you indicate coincides with the one on the INE register and, if so, make the requested change for you.

READ ALSO: The tricks drivers use to pay less in car taxes in Spain

DGT App — If you have the miDGT app, you can also change your address through the platform.

In person — you can also change your vehicle’s tax address at your town hall (ayuntamiento) where you are currently registered (pre-move) or at any DGT traffic office, though you will need to make an appointment online or by phone beforehand. You can do that here.

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