Driving in Spain on a UK Driving License

Over the past couple of days, I have been hearing the story of an English woman in the south of Spain being involved in a car accident, where the Police asked for her car documents, driving liecense and Spanish medical certificate, confirming she was fit to drive on Spanish roads. When she could not produce the Spanish medical certificate she was fined 5000 euros for not having one.

So, today I went to a local Gestor and asked him if this medical certificate was compulsory for driving on an English License here. His reply was that you can drive a UK or Spanish registered car on a UK Euro License quite legally here, and there is no compulsory obligation to take and pass the Spanish medical. However, he recommends that any person driving on a UK driving license takes the medical and gets the certificate which costs about 30 euros, as more and more police are requesting to see this certificate.

You will need to take your residency card or passport, two photos, and your driving license with you and the medical consists of an eye test, blood pressure check, and a perception computer based test. It takes about 15 minutes, and can obviously save you quite a few thousand euros. Amposta has two testing centres that I know of, the first is next to Mercadona and the second is GAM near to the Cafoc Ferriertia on Ave De la Rapita.

In my mind it has got to be worth it.