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DRIVING LICENCES

British embassy hails new UK-Spain driving licence deal

After 10 months of not being able to drive on Spanish roads, the wait is over for UK licence holders residing in Spain. The Interior Ministry has confirmed they will be able to exchange their licences and drive from Thursday March 16th.

Published: 14 March 2023 17:55 CET
British embassy hails new UK-Spain driving licence deal
Spain approves UK driving licence deal. Photo: Jenny Ueberberg / Unsplash

Spain’s Cabinet on Tuesday finally approved an agreement between Spain and the UK regarding the exchange of UK driving licences, as well as driver information on traffic offences and road safety.

Since May 1st 2022, an unknown number of the approximately 400,000 UK nationals who are residents in Spain, as well as hundreds if not thousands of Spaniards and foreign nationals who passed their driving test in the UK, have not been able to use their vehicles in Spain or even rent one. 

British Ambassador to Spain, Hugh Elliott said: “I am delighted that these negotiations have come to an end and UK licence holders will now be able to exchange their UK licence for a Spanish one without having to take a driving test.”

This agreement, which has also been confirmed by Spain’s Interior Ministry, puts an end to the frustrating and very limiting situation many UK licence holders found themselves in, having not been able to exchange their licences for Spanish ones before the previous deadline.

READ ALSO: ‘An avoidable nightmare’ – How UK licence holders in Spain are affected by driving debacle

From March 16th 2023 onwards, holders of a valid and current driving licence issued by either Spain or the UK may request to exchange it, depending on their residency, without being subject to any additional requirement such as a practical or theory test.

The agreement establishes that all valid permits or licences of current residents issued prior to this agreement coming into force may be exchanged. For permits issued after the deal comes into force, drivers will be required to exchange the licences that were issued in the country where they had their legal residency.

This means that British citizens residing in Spain who had not had their driving licences recognised before Brexit, nor in the successive extensions granted, will be able to do so as of Thursday, March 16th.

Elliott updated UK licence holders in a video message after the agreement was approved by the Spanish Cabinet on Tuesday.

In order to make the process easier, the provincial traffic headquarters have granted a period of six months, during which British citizens can drive in Spain with their original permit while they undergo the process of exchanging it.  

Spain and the UK have also agreed to provide each other with information on the data of the vehicles and their owners for the purpose of investigating traffic offences related to road safety, especially in cases of speeding, not wearing a seat belt, failure to stop at a red light, driving while intoxicated, driving under the influence of drugs, not wearing a crash helmet, driving in a prohibited lane, or illegal use of mobile phones

Spain was the last EU country to reach a driving licence deal with the UK post-Brexit after more than two years of negotiations, several extensions and countless updates from the British Embassy in Madrid.

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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
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. 

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