Is there a time limit on having a UK registered car in Spain

is there a time limit on keeping and driving a UK registered car in Spain,I've heard it is six months,I would appreciate any comments.

Yes, six months in any one year. After that it must be taken out of the country or put on Spanish plates.
It must fully road legal (including road tax) in UK during that time.

Thanks marcliff, are there car dealers who would trade a RHD for a LHD in the area.cheers

Are there any restrictions on how many times you can bring a UK registered car to Spain? We had a place in Turkey for 12 years and they had a similar (based on EU laws) maximum 6 months in any one year BUT had a period where you could only bring the same vehicle in for 2 years (2 x 6 months) and then that vehicle was prohibited from going in again?

Hoping Spain is as many times as you want as long as you comply with the 6 month rule?

Ian2009 wrote:Are there any restrictions on how many times you can bring a UK registered car to Spain? We had a place in Turkey for 12 years and they had a similar (based on EU laws) maximum 6 months in any one year BUT had a period where you could only bring the same vehicle in for 2 years (2 x 6 months) and then that vehicle was prohibited from going in again?

Hoping Spain is as many times as you want as long as you comply with the 6 month rule?

Yes, you can bring it in as many times as you like providing you don't exceed the 6 months in Spain in any one twelve month period.
Also remember it is you that can't use the car for more than 6 months. You can bring it across for, say 3 months, then go away for 6 months and then drive it again for a maximum of 3 months BUT it must be road legal for tax, MOT and insurance for the whole period. If any of those run out, you can't then drive it back to UK. You must do so before any of them runs out.

Of course, the added proviso that Brexit may change all this but we don't know.

marcliff wrote:Also remember it is you that can't use the car for more than 6 months. You can bring it across for, say 3 months, then go away for 6 months and then drive it again for a maximum of 3 months

According to this article, that's not true:
http://spanish-number-plates.com/graphics/6%20Month%20rules.pdf

The relevant bit is where it says "6 months is the amount of time that you can keep a foreign registered vehicle in Spain before the law requires to you to re-register it or take it out of the country"

As the author of the article does this for a living then I'm tempted to believe that he's correct.

Pete.

Anglo Info differentiates between residents and non-residents. Once you decide to become a resident you must register it straight away. If you are a non-resident, you may only drive the car for up to 6 months. However, it then states:
A foreign-registered vehicle may remain in Spain for more than 180 days in a calendar year as long as it is not driven.

Abogados Spain says:
The vehicle may be used in Spain for a period of up to 6 months. It may not be driven again until 6 months has passed and it would be impossible for it to remain legal in its country of origin. You are advised to keep details of travel itinerary to show you have not driven the vehicle in Spain for a period of more than 6 months in any one year. The vehicle may remain in Spain for longer than the 6 months period but must be garaged and not driven by anyone including the owner.

So all these who do it for a living seem to disagree. However, they all agree on the resident and non-resident differences.
The differences of opinion are based on the amount of time you may drive your car in Spain and the amount of time you may keep your car in Spain.
Several other "expert" sites state it is the amount of time the car is driven in a 12 month period, not the actual time it stays here. So if you're a non-res, you could bring a car over for a few weeks, leave for a couple of months, drive it again for a few weeks and so on. Provided you don't drive it more than 6 months in that year and you keep the tax, MOT and insurance up to date then it seems fine. However, there is no such thing as SORN over here so it must still have the correct documentation even if left in a garage which means you'd have to take it back to UK before the year is up to get the MOT done (tax and insurance can be done on line but not the MOT).

Edited. For some reason I can't link to the DGT site or the EU regulation site. I think they have this thing where links don't work.
However, the EU ruling is as follows (I can copy and paste from that site)
1. CARS WITH FOREIGN LICENCE NUMBER PLATES

A. Residents within EU/EEC

Residents of the European Union and the European Economic Area (meaning Norway, Lichtenstein and Iceland) are not permitted to use, within the area of EU/EEA, vehicles registered outside the area. (This makes it illegal for EU/EEA residents to use vehicles registered in Gibraltar and Andorra) An EU/EEA resident may only use a vehicle with licence plates from an EU/EEA state.

In the case of Spain, community residents (from now on, when we refer to the community or EU, we also include Norway, Lichtenstein and Iceland) without a residence permit in this country (unless they are fiscal residents due to their staying in Spain for more than 183 days per calendar year) may use a vehicle registered within the community without any formalities, and may leave their car in Spain whilst they are away without the need to have it sealed. They may then use the car again on their return visit.

How would they know? Simple question but cars driven into spain are not subject to searches as far as I can tell.....

So if I come over for March and April and then again for September and October each year - I will not be breaking any laws?

Ian2009 wrote:So if I come over for March and April and then again for September and October each year - I will not be breaking any laws?

Provideded your car insurance covers you for the duration of the trip, and your MOT and tax are in date for the duration of the stay then you won't be breaking any laws about how long you keep your vehicle in Spain.
There are lots of other ways that you might break some laws, but that's a whole new subject....

Pete.