Your European driving licence will be valid in Spain as long as it is current. Any exchange of your valid EU licence is therefore entirely voluntary. Exchange means we replace the driving licence you used to hold with an equivalent Spanish driving licence.
If your European licence expires, you must renew it in order to continue driving. This renewal involves exchanging your licence for a Spanish one.
Also, if the driving licence has an indefinite period of validity (no expiry date), or is valid more than 15 years for group 1 (AM, A1, A2, A, B and BE), or more than five years for group 2 (C1, C1E, C, CE, D1, D1E, D and DE), you must renew it two years after establishing your ordinary residence in Spain.
Exchanging driving licences
Exchanging a licence involves approval of the driving licence you already hold. The licence you held is exchanged for the equivalent Spanish licence. The procedure is much simpler to follow than obtaining a new licence.
Driving licences issued in any Member State of the European Union (EU), and in the European Economic Area (EEA – Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) are valid for driving in Spain as long as they are current and have not been withdrawn for any reason. The only proviso is that the age required for driving must be the same as required to obtain an equivalent Spanish driving licence.
As long as your EU and EEA driving licence is current, exchanging it is entirely voluntary. The exchange means we replace the driving licence you held with an equivalent Spanish licence.
During this procedure, your original licence is withdrawn and we issue you with a provisional licence. You will receive your definitive licence in approximately one-and-a-half months. You do not need to visit your police station or DGT office; we will post your licence to you at home.
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