Foreign car plates New rules?

Car plates (anything but Spanish )are now only permitted for 30 days in Spain,new rule.if caught you will be fined €500 car impounded for 6 months and charged 9€ per day till on Spanish plates.

polop wrote:Car plates (anything but Spanish )are now only permitted for 30 days in Spain,new rule.if caught you will be fined €500 car impounded for 6 months and charged 9€ per day till on Spanish plates.

This cannot be correct as people could be travelling around Spain for more than 30 days - Also there are many people who bring their car from another country to spend more time than 30 days. It's 6 months that a foreign car is legally allowed to be in Spain.
Where did you see this 'new rule'? Are you confusing the Residencia laws on keeping a foreign car in Spain?

So, this report is doing the rounds on social media on all the sites, I had a look on the Citizens advice bureau page & this is what they posted:
Okay, here goes. To the very best of my knowledge, and I've re-checked all sources known to me, there are no changes . So newly registered residents still have up to 60 days to register their foreign plated vehicles, if they meet the other requisites, and non-residents can still drive their foreign plated vehicles for a maximum of 183 days in any period of 12 months. In the latest version of the Traffic Law, from October 2015, in force since 1.1.2016, as well as the previous one from 2014, that we wrote about then (see link) the only thing that has been announced that could change the status quo is with reference to non-residents that own businesses in Spain. They could be obliged to register foreign plated vehicles.
Or residents could be obliged to comply with import regulations in a smaller window than now available to them to import a vehicle as part of ´household goods´ and thus making use of the exemption on ´first matriculation tax´ the Spanish Tax Office offers.
No timeframe known or enforceable for either situation as the law specifically states that this particular article will only come into force when details on the how and when are outlined in a Traffico Reglament. This Reglament has, since the latest 2 versions of Traffic law have come into force, not been adjusted, at least not with regards to this issue.
Hence, my opening statement.

Re the ´newsflash´ about owners of a UK plated vehicle being fined because they overstayed a window of 30 days, I can only assume that it concerned residents, not having started the process of re-matriculation within the window set out for them. If the guardia can determine you´ve been residents for more than 60 days and you cannot provide proof that you´ve started the re-matriculation process for the vehicle as part of household goods that made the move to Spain with you - the window to re-register a foreign vehicle you own is only 30 days.
The usual practice is that when stopped at a road check the Guardia advises you about this obligation to put the vehicle on Spanish plates and gives you a window of x days to comply. Failure to comply will result in a hefty fine. As the ´newsflash´ doesn´t provide any details about the actual circumstances, residence status, first time ´catch´ or not, I can only speculate as to the reason why a fine was issued in this case and I´d rather not.
To conclude: you all know that as a registered resident in Spain, you cannot drive any foreign plated vehicles any more, unless the owner is a non-resident and with you in the vehicle.
https://www.citizensadvice.org.es/.../w ... he-new.../

So a 'lost in translation' or Expat 'not quite correct' rumour situation, yet again, about the 30 days. Maybe the 30 days is when a driver is stopped after being Resident and not changing the plates to Spanish in the given time.

Jan wrote::text-goodpost:


So a 'lost in translation' or Expat 'not quite correct' rumour situation, yet again, about the 30 days. Maybe the 30 days is when a driver is stopped after being Resident and not changing the plates to Spanish in the given time.

Yes, don't confuse resident with non-resident. The rules on registering within 30 days only apply if you are going to be a resident in Spain, not if you do not intend to stay more than 6 months here. If you do that the car will be classed as a personal import so it is advantageous to do so.
The rules were in the Road Traffic Act of 2014 which came into effect almost 18 months ago. People will be caught out as older websites still quote the 6 months rule which is not correct for residents or those who intend to become residents.

The other way round, say you were resident in Spain and wanted to move back to UK with your Spanish reg car, you would only be allowed to drive it once to your place of residence and would not be allowed to drive it until it had been registered on UK plates. If you were just visiting and not becoming a resident in UK then you can drive it for up to 6 months.

Rules are 181 days for non-residents and 30 days if resident.. don't take my word for it, the police make it very clear... https://www.facebook.com/DrivingSpain/p ... 4542636234