Driving a UK-registered car in Spain: the 30-day rule, what the IEDMT, the ITV and the conversion cost, and what to do instead

How long can I keep it on UK plates?

Once you live in Spain you may not drive a car on foreign plates. The tax agency (Agencia Tributaria) says owners have 30 days to register an imported car in Spain. The registration-tax law counts those 30 days from the day the car entered Spain or, if that date can't be shown, from the later of the day you bought it and the day you became resident. Where the car qualifies for the IEDMT exemption because you moved your home to Spain, the period is 60 days. Past the deadline, the IEDMT registration tax falls due on the use of the car alone, whether or not it is ever registered, the tax agency's penalties run from 50% to 150% of the tax due, and the car can be immobilised until it is regularised. Spain enforces this: a joint operation by the Guardia Civil and the tax agency in the Balearic Islands carried out 1,065 checks of foreign-plated cars between late December 2024 and May 2025 and found 166 infringements, according to the tax agency. Visitors whose home is outside the EU, including second-home owners who still live in the UK, may use a foreign-registered car in Spain for up to 6 months, continuous or not, in every 12. Keeping the UK MOT and insurance current doesn't change any of this.

Can a right-hand-drive car be registered?

Yes. Spain doesn't ban right-hand-drive cars. For the import ITV, though, the headlamps must be replaced or converted for driving on the right (beam-deflector stickers are not a permanent fix), the rear fog lamp may need moving or rewiring, and the speedometer must show km/h. The ITV also checks the car against its approval, so you need the certificate of conformity (COC) or a reduced technical sheet (ficha técnica reducida) from the manufacturer; without either, an individual approval (homologación individual) through a laboratory, which costs much more. Moving the steering wheel to the left is a major modification that needs an individual approval and rarely makes financial sense. Spanish buyers pay less for right-hand drive.

What registering it involves

1. Technical documents: the certificate of conformity (COC) or a ficha técnica reducida from the manufacturer; without either, an individual approval (homologación individual) through a laboratory or technical service.
2. Conversion: headlamps replaced or converted for driving on the right, the rear fog lamp moved or rewired if needed, and a speedometer that shows km/h.
3. The import ITV, which issues the Spanish technical card (tarjeta ITV) that registration needs.
4. The IEDMT: form 576 to the tax agency, or form 05 or 06 if the car is exempt.
5. Municipal road tax (IVTM) at your town hall, then registration with Tráfico (DGT fee 1.1), Spanish plates and Spanish insurance.

What it costs

• IEDMT: charged on the car's market value, normally Hacienda's table price for the model reduced for age (to 24% for a car 8 to 9 years old). State rates: 0% up to 120 g/km of CO2, 4.75% above 120 and below 160, 9.75% from 160 to below 200, and 14.75% from 200. The Canary Islands charge one point less in each band.
• Regional IEDMT rates: Andalucía, Asturias, the Balearics, Cantabria, Catalonia, Murcia and the Valencian Community charge more in the upper bands. The top band is 16.9% in Andalucía and 16% in the Balearics, Catalonia and the Valencian Community.
• Example (illustrative values): an 8-year-old car with a Hacienda table price of €30,000 is valued at about €7,200, so the IEDMT is about €340 at 4.75%, €700 at 9.75% or €1,060 at 14.75%.
• Import ITV: from under €100 to about €200, depending on the region and the station.
• Ficha técnica reducida or individual approval, where there is no valid COC: about €800–1,500.
• Headlamps: from about €400 to over €2,000 depending on the model, plus any work on the rear fog lamp.
• DGT registration fee about €100 and plates €20–30. After that, the annual IVTM and Spanish insurance.

Moving home with the car?

If you lived outside Spain for at least 12 consecutive months, used the car in your former home for at least 6 months, bought it tax-paid there, and apply for registration within the deadline (60 days on a move), an exemption for people moving home removes the IEDMT. The car may then not be sold for 12 months after registration, or the tax is charged. The exemption doesn't cover the import ITV, the technical paperwork, the headlamps, the DGT fee, plates, the IVTM or insurance. If you have already lived in Spain for more than a year with the car on UK plates, you are past the deadline.

The alternative: sell it back to the UK

The usual alternative is to drive the car back to the UK and sell it there. From Málaga it is about 2,100 km to Calais, or roughly 900–1,000 km to the ferry at Bilbao or Santander and then a crossing of a day or more to Portsmouth or Plymouth, plus fuel, tolls, the journey back and the job of selling the car in the UK. It only works while the MOT, UK tax and insurance are valid, and once you are past the 30-day deadline, the drive to the border is itself use of a car that should already have been registered in Spain. We collect it free from your address on a transporter, handle the export paperwork, and pay you in pounds sterling (£) by bank transfer on collection day.

Common questions

Rules, rates and thresholds change. This guide is a general summary as of October 2026, not legal or tax advice — check the current position with the registration authority before relying on it.

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