Driving in Spain with a foreign licence: exchange or exam

If you live in Spain with a licence from another country, what you need to do depends on where it was issued. There are three possible cases.

Updated: 27 September 2026

EU and EEA licences

Licences issued in an EU country or the European Economic Area (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) are valid in Spain while they are in date. You don't need to exchange them, though you can do so voluntarily.

Once you are resident in Spain, Spanish rules apply to you, for example for renewals and the penalty points system.

Non-EU licences: the 6-month rule

As a tourist you can drive with your valid foreign licence (plus an International Driving Permit where required).

Once you become a resident, a non-EU licence is only valid for driving for 6 months after you obtain residency. After that you need a Spanish licence.

Countries with an exchange agreement

Spain has licence exchange agreements (canje) with a number of countries. If your licence comes from one of them, you can swap it for a Spanish one without taking the category B tests. They include, for example, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Morocco, Japan, South Korea and many Latin American countries such as Argentina, Colombia and Peru.

The list of countries and their conditions changes. Always check the official list of agreements on the DGT website before you start.

To exchange your licence you will usually need:

• An appointment (cita previa) at the Provincial Traffic Office
• The application form and the fee
• ID (TIE or NIE plus passport)
• Your original, valid licence
• A medical and psychotechnical certificate
• A recent photo

You hand in your original licence, and the DGT returns it to the authorities of the issuing country.

If your country has no agreement

You need to get a Spanish licence like any learner: theory test and practical test. Your driving experience helps with the practical, but the theory test requires knowing Spanish traffic rules.

With My DGT Test you can prepare for the theory test in English (or Russian, Ukrainian, Arabic, Romanian, German, French or Italian) and switch to Spanish at any time to learn the official terms.