DGT website says no need to exchange EU/EEA driving license!

Expat in Quesada · by **Expat in Quesada** » Sun Jan 11, 2026 5:57 pm

Hi All,

One of my new year resolutions was to exchange my Irish license for a Spanish one. I did a Google search and followed a link to the DGT website which said an EU/EEA license is valid for a resident driving in Spain as long as the license has not expired.

https://www.dgt.es/nuestros-servicios/p ... is=Irlanda

Any thoughts on this? I would rather save the cash and hassle and keep my existing license. Anyone with resident status been stopped by the police and how did you get on?

Cheers.

John.

marcliff · by **marcliff** » Sun Jan 11, 2026 6:38 pm

It's always been like that and has been mentioned on here a few times. But only if it is one that has an expiry date that is less than 15 years. If it is one that has no expiry date or, like the UK ones, valid until you are 70 and that is over 15 years then you must exchange it after 2 years. But you can keep driving with it as a EU citizen while it is in date but you must exchange it before it expires as you can't do so afterwards.

Can't see why you wouldn't want to exchange it. It's not expensive to do so and the details of your address etc will be wrong. A Spanish one will be linked to your Spain address and insurance if you do get stopped. And what about when you visit Ireland? I know if you have an out of date address on your license in UK you can be fined £1,000 for not keeping it up to date. No idea of the situation in Ireland.

MacinSpain · by **MacinSpain** » Mon Jan 12, 2026 11:33 am

I thought if you where a resident in Spain you had to have a Spanish licence after a certain number of months

marcliff · by **marcliff** » Mon Jan 12, 2026 11:42 am

MacinSpain wrote:I thought if you where a resident in Spain you had to have a Spanish licence after a certain number of months

Non EU citizens do. EU and EEA citizens can retain theirs under different rules. Remember EU citizens do not take out residency but simply go on the register of foreign EU citizen residing in Spain. They even keep their original ID cards as well or simply passports if no ID card is issued.

MacinSpain · by **MacinSpain** » Mon Jan 12, 2026 11:54 am

Thank you for the information

Expat in Quesada · by **Expat in Quesada** » Sun Jan 18, 2026 6:18 pm

marcliff wrote:It's always been like that and has been mentioned on here a few times. But only if it is one that has an expiry date that is less than 15 years. If it is one that has no expiry date or, like the UK ones, valid until you are 70 and that is over 15 years then you must exchange it after 2 years. But you can keep driving with it as a EU citizen while it is in date but you must exchange it before it expires as you can't do so afterwards.

Can't see why you wouldn't want to exchange it. It's not expensive to do so and the details of your address etc will be wrong. A Spanish one will be linked to your Spain address and insurance if you do get stopped. And what about when you visit Ireland? I know if you have an out of date address on your license in UK you can be fined £1,000 for not keeping it up to date. No idea of the situation in Ireland.

Many thanks Marcliff,

I had been quoted €300 to do this per person (€600 for me and my wife)
I can see from the DGT website, its less than €30 each and does not seem difficult. I will take your advice and go that route.

Cheers.

John.

Jan&Tony · by **Jan&Tony** » Tue Feb 10, 2026 9:56 am

What if, as I do, have an Irish Passport but a UK license?

I have residencia and had a Spanish DL but reverted back to a UK one for a period of work that has now ended. I was going to change back to a Spanish one but if I don.t need to etc!

Thanks.

marcliff · by **marcliff** » Tue Feb 10, 2026 10:04 am

It's not a EU or EEA license.
If you are a resident of Spain, your EU or EEA driving license is valid for driving in Spain as long as it remains valid.

Paul58 · by **Paul58** » Tue Feb 10, 2026 1:08 pm

Jan&Tony wrote:What if, as I do, have an Irish Passport but a UK license?

I have residencia and had a Spanish DL but reverted back to a UK one for a period of work that has now ended. I was going to change back to a Spanish one but if I don.t need to etc!

Thanks.

You can still use your Spanish driving licence in the UK. You just need to decide where you are resident.

Darro · by **Darro** » Tue Feb 10, 2026 3:13 pm

Jan&Tony wrote:I have residencia and had a Spanish DL but reverted back to a UK one for a period of work that has now ended.

As a resident of Spain you were not legally entitled to apply for a UK driving licence nor to exchange a Spanish one for UK. The basic tenet is that you can only legitimately be issued with a licence in the country in which you are officially resident therefore you must have been 'economic' with the truth with DVLA when you did it.

Because you will be on record with DGT as holding a Spanish licence issued in exchange for a UK one reapplying once again with a UK licence is bound to give rise to awkward questions.

You may recall that before the post Brexshite licence exchange agreement between Spain and UK was finally thrashed out some Brits (by deceit) renewed their expiring UK licences with DVLA but because that was an illegitimate act those licences were deemed invalid for exchanging meaning a Spanish driving test had to be taken!

DGT website says no need to exchange EU/EEA driving license!

DGT website says no need to exchange EU/EEA driving license!

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Re: DGT website says no need to exchange EU/EEA driving lice

Re: DGT website says no need to exchange EU/EEA driving lice

Re: DGT website says no need to exchange EU/EEA driving lice

Re: DGT website says no need to exchange EU/EEA driving lice

Re: DGT website says no need to exchange EU/EEA driving lice

Re: DGT website says no need to exchange EU/EEA driving lice

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