Swapping a UK driving licence in Spain: who has to, by when, and how the exchange works

This guide covers exchanging a UK driving licence for a Spanish one once you live on the Costa del Sol. It sets out who has to do it and by when, the agreement between Spain and the UK that makes it a paperwork step rather than a driving test, and the exchange itself, from the medical report to the new licence arriving by post. The rules are those of the DGT, Spain’s traffic authority, and of the UK government, as they stand in October 2026, linked where they apply.

Visiting or living here: which rule applies

A visitor needs nothing new. The UK government’s travel advice for Spain says a UK photocard licence can be used to drive here, and that you must carry a valid licence and ID. A UK provisional licence is not valid for driving in Spain, and anyone still holding an old paper licence may need to update it to a photocard. Its guidance on driving in the EU adds that no international driving permit is needed to visit and drive in the EU, and that a UK car in Spain must show a UK sticker whatever is on its number plate.

How long a visitor can stay is a separate rule, the 90 days in any 180 that apply to every British passport holder. Owning a home here does not change it.

A resident is treated differently. The DGT’s page for UK licence holders says a UK licence is valid for six months at most, counted from the day you take up normal residence in Spain, and that after that you have to exchange it if you want to keep driving. The same page defines normal residence as the place where a person usually lives, for at least 185 days in each calendar year, with a legal right to live here that can be shown. In practice the rule reaches anyone who has moved here on a residence visa, such as the non-lucrative visa or the digital nomad visa, and lives here most of the year.

The 2023 agreement behind the exchange

After the Brexit transition period ended, UK licence holders living in Spain relied on a series of temporary extensions. That ended in March 2023. Spain’s Council of Ministers approved an agreement with the UK on 14 March 2023, and the Interior Ministry’s announcement set out what it does. A valid licence issued by either country can be exchanged in the country where its holder lives, with no further theory or practical test, following tables that match each country’s licence categories. The UK published the agreement as CS Spain No.1/2023 on 27 April 2023.

The DGT has applied it provisionally since 16 March 2023. Its table of countries with exchange agreements, last updated in June 2026, lists the United Kingdom with that date and no tests for a car or motorbike licence.

The agreement has a second part. The two governments agreed to share vehicle and owner details to investigate road-safety offences, among them speeding, not wearing a seat belt, running a red light, driving after drink or drugs and using a mobile phone at the wheel.

Who has to exchange, and by when

• Anyone who becomes normally resident in Spain holding a UK licence, within six months of taking up residence. The UK government’s guidance on living in Spain says to apply before the six months is over, because applications take time and you need the Spanish licence to drive legally.
• A licence that cannot be renewed from here. gov.uk is plain that a UK licence cannot be replaced or renewed once you live in Spain, which is one more reason to exchange early.
• An expired licence still counts, the DGT says, provided it expired after you entered Spain.
• A licence obtained after you became resident does not. If you passed your test in the UK while already a legal resident in Spain, the licence cannot be exchanged, and the route is a Spanish licence with the Spanish tests.
• Gibraltar licences are exchanged in the same way. Jersey, Guernsey and Isle of Man licences cannot be exchanged, and their holders apply for a Spanish licence as non-EU nationals, with a theory test and a practical test.
• Car and motorbike entitlements (the A and B categories) exchange directly, with no test. Lorry and bus entitlements (C and D) are handled differently. They need a specific medical, the group II report, and the DGT’s pages say they generally involve a test, so check the position for your categories with the DGT before you book.

The six months is a limit on driving with the UK licence. The DGT’s conditions set no closing date for the exchange itself, so a resident past the six months can still exchange, but cannot drive on the UK licence in the meantime. The straightforward course is to start soon after you arrive.

Before you apply: the medical report and the check code

Two things are done before the application.

The medical report. The exchange needs an informe de aptitud psicofísica, a medical fitness report for drivers, from an authorised Centro de Reconocimiento de Conductores, a driver medical centre. You tell the centre the report is for a licence and which categories you are exchanging. A car and motorbike licence needs the group I report, and lorry and bus entitlements the group II. The DGT’s general page on exchanging a non-EU licence gives the report a validity of 90 days, so it is best booked close to the application. The centre sets its own charge for it.

The check code. The traffic office confirms with the UK that your licence is valid, and for that it needs a check code. For a licence issued in England, Scotland or Wales you get it from the DVLA’s View or share your driving licence information service, with your licence number, your National Insurance number and the postcode on the licence. The code lasts 21 days, so get it shortly before you apply. A Northern Irish licence uses the DVA’s equivalent service on nidirect. A Gibraltar licence needs no code.

The documents

The DGT’s list for a UK licence, as it stands in October 2026:

• The application. Online it is the DGT’s own form. In person it is the official paper form, which includes a declaration that no court has banned you from driving and that you hold no other EU or EEA licence of the same class.
• Your identity document, the original and in date: your passport or your residence authorisation.
• Proof that you live in Spain: your TIE, the foreigner’s identity card, or the EU registration certificate if you hold one from before 2021, and anything else the office asks for. On the paper form you can also authorise the DGT to check your address on the padrón, the town hall’s register of residents, electronically.
• Proof that you were not resident in Spain when the licence was issued. The DGT accepts your TIE, a residence or student card, or a certificate of registration on the foreigners’ register.
• The UK licence itself, the original. The DGT’s list asks for a licence that is valid and in date, and its conditions also accept one that expired after you entered Spain. It is taken from you when the exchange is made.
• The medical report from the driver medical centre.
• The check code.
• The fee, tasa 2.3, which is €28.87 in October 2026.

Two ways to apply

Online. Through the DGT’s electronic registry, signed in with a digital certificate or Cl@ve, Spain’s online identity system. You enter the licence details, choose the traffic office where you will finish the process, pay the fee in the same form and attach scanned copies of the documents, including both sides of the UK licence and the check code. Once the application has been processed, the DGT emails you to come in, hand over the UK licence and collect a temporary Spanish one. Its page says it cannot guarantee a processing time for applications made this way, and that it counts the date your application was lodged, so keep the receipt.

In person. At a Jefatura or Oficina de Tráfico, with an appointment booked online or by phone on 060. The DGT will not see you without one. In Málaga province, the DGT’s appointment list has a single office, Málaga. When booking, choose the exchange option, usually listed as “Canje de permisos”. The DGT allows one exchange appointment per person, and cancelling it starts the whole procedure again, including the check with the UK. The fee is paid at the office by debit or credit card, never in cash.

Someone else can do this for you. The DGT accepts a representative, appointed through its online register of representatives or with its “Otorgamiento de representación” form signed by you, and both identity numbers are given when the appointment is booked.

On the day, and after

If everything is in order, the exchange is made there and then. The UK licence is withdrawn and you are given a temporary Spanish licence, which lets you drive for six months, in Spain only. The DGT says the card itself normally arrives by post about a month and a half later, so there is no second trip. If you need to drive outside Spain before it comes, a traffic office can issue an international driving permit.

A Spanish car or motorbike licence is then renewed every ten years until the age of 65 and every five years after that, with a medical at a driver medical centre, from three months before it expires, as the DGT’s page on renewals sets out. It also runs on points. Most drivers start with 12, and the balance can rise to 15 after years without an offence that costs points.

If you hold a UK Blue Badge, gov.uk says it goes back to the authority that issued it once you live in Spain, and your town hall can tell you about a Spanish disabled parking card.

Where the licence fits in a move

The exchange falls due in the first months after you arrive, after the padrón and the TIE. The whole order, from the visa to the first Spanish tax return, is in moving to the Costa del Sol from the UK. If you are still looking for the home, buying from the UK sets out how a purchase runs while you are there.

How I handle it

When a buyer is moving here for good, the licence goes on the same timetable as the rest of the move. I note when your residence starts, so the six months has a date on it, point you to a driver medical centre near the home you are buying, and help you gather the documents and book the DGT appointment, so the exchange is done well inside the six months.

When we compare areas along the coast, I also look at how much each home depends on a car, for the shops, the schools and the run to the airport, because that changes from one town to the next. Book a call and we can go through the order of your move. Buying with me sets out how I work.

Common questions