The Diplomat
The Council of Ministers yesterday approved the agreement whereby Spain and the United Kingdom will proceed with the reciprocal recognition and exchange of driving licenses, as well as the exchange of information on traffic offenses in the field of road safety.
This agreement puts an end to the successive extensions applied for the exchange of licenses between both countries that had been applied since the end of the transitional period foreseen in the Agreement for the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union.
From now on, holders of a valid and in force driving license issued by either of the two States will be able to request the exchange of their equivalent driving license where they have taken up residence, without being subject to any additional practical or theoretical test requirements and in accordance with the equivalence tables between the license categories of both countries, as reported by the Ministry of the Interior in a press release.
The agreement establishes that all valid permits or licenses of current residents issued prior to its entry into force can be exchanged, while for permits issued after its entry into force it will be an indispensable requirement to access the exchange that the permits have been issued in the country where the applicant had his legal residence.
With this agreement, those British citizens residing in Spain who had not had their driving license recognized before Brexit, nor in the successive extensions granted, will be able to do so as of Thursday, March 16. In order to facilitate the administrative processing at the provincial traffic headquarters, a period of six months has been granted during which British citizens can circulate in Spain with their original license while they process the exchange.
In addition, under the agreement, Spain and the United Kingdom undertake to provide each other with information on the details of vehicles and their owners for the purpose of investigating traffic offenses related to road safety, especially in the cases of speeding, not wearing a seat belt, failing to stop at a red light, driving under the influence of alcohol, driving under the influence of drugs, not wearing a crash helmet, driving in a forbidden lane or illegal use of cell phones.
In this regard, the Government of Gibraltar yesterday expressed its satisfaction with the decision of the Council of Ministers and stated that, “as a consequence, and irrespective of the outcome of the ongoing negotiations on Gibraltar’s relationship with the EU”, the Gibraltarian driver’s licenses of those visiting Spain “will continue to be recognised in Spain, without the need for Gibraltar driving licenses to be accompanied by International Driving Permits” and, for Gibraltar driving license holders resident in Spain, “Gibraltar driving licenses can be exchanged without the need to take a practical or theory test in Spain”.
