Costa Blanca News

Driving licences in Spain

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Email July 8

Dear Sirs

Over my many years of dealing with motoring matters in Spain, there are a few recurring urban myths that the blogs are full of, aided and abetted by the notorious bar-room lawyers who seem to know everything and nothing.

One of these is regarding driving licences but after double checking, be assured that if you have a Spanish driving licence, you CAN drive a non-Spanish car, such as one registered in the UK. The provisos are that you must have permission from the owner, if it is not yours, and that you are insured to drive the car. As a reminder, in Spain it is the car that is insured, not the driver, whereas in the UK it is typically the other way around

Another common question surrounds the riding of motorbikes etc of less than 125 cc. Spanish licence holders are entitled to ride such vehicles without the need for a bike test. Again, having checked with Tráfico, holders of non-Spanish licences with category “B” on their licence, which is for cars, can also ride bikes of 125 cc or less in Spain.

Regarding Spanish driving licences, the law requires you to exchange a non-Spanish licence for a Spanish one within two years of obtaining residency, however, the policemen that stops you may not be aware of the timescales, so my advice is to change it as soon as you can, to save potential and unnecessar­y grief.

Happy motoring Graham Shelton. (Retired author of CBN “Mediterran­ean Motoring”) www.spanish-number-plates.com

of the correspond­ing year. This rule is establishe­d in art 64 of the Law on Municipal Taxes which establishe­s that in the case of a change of ownership during the course of the year, the actual property itself will always remain liable for payment with independen­ce of whoever the owner is.

The most practical solution is to calculate each party’s liability for the year’s IBI bill prior to the date of sale and to either make a retention for the payment of the bill once it is issued or for the purchaser to reimburse the vendor on the day of completion the proportion­al part of the bill due if it has already been paid to the Town Hall.

Regarding the mention in the letter of the buyer being liable for the first 4 years IBI bills, this would seem to have been a misunderst­anding. We can only presume that the reader was advised that there is a statutory limitation for the claiming of unpaid tax of four years from the date of the expiry of the voluntary period of payment for each tax bill. As such, if the vendor had not paid the previous 4 years IBI bills prior to the sale of the property, and if a claim for payment of the said outstandin­g bills were unsuccessf­ul as a result of the vendor being found insolvent, the property would be liable for ultimate payment and as such the new owner would be obliged to make payment to avoid the embargo of the property. All of these considerat­ions emphasize the importance of these matters being researched and clarified prior to the completion of the sale of the property.

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