Renewing Driving Licence At 70 ?

Hi

Two friends are nearing their 70th Birthdays,and it seems that they have to renew their Spanish licences.


I am not an expert in any way,so any input from my fellow forum members would certainly be appreciated. Sorry in advance,for the questions.

1. What does the renewal entail,and what do they need to take to the driving licence centre ?

2. I presume there is no medical,but are health situations checked etc ?

3. From what I remember some years back,an eye test is carried out.
Are glasses allowed,if an individual uses them for reading (but not driving).

4. Is there an office in Quesada or nearby ?

5. Can a renewed licence be sent to the testing centre or another address,as one of my friends has no post boxes on their urbanisation ?

Thank you and sorry for the questions again,the forum has been so helpful in the past and I'm sure some members have gone through this procedure.

They need to go to a medical centre that renews the licences. La Siesta Salud does the whole thing and you can in and book an appointment. There is also one in Rojales but only open in the evening a couple of days a week. Just walk in.

They will be given a medical assessment, sometimes with BP and blood gases. Also an eye test. If they use glasses for the eye test the licence will be annotated as such. Also a hearing test.
Then there are a couple of coordination tests with a gadget that measures your reactions (a light goes across the screen and disappears into a tunnel and you press a button when you think it is about to exit the tunnel). Also another one with what seems to be X box controllers that beep when a light leaves a box and you have to show you can react and get it back in the box.

Your appearance and general demeanour is now assessed under new rules.

The centre will complete all the forms, take your picture and submit the new application. They will remove your old driving licence and give you a temporary one, only valid in Spain, until your new one comes by post. Ours took about 3 weeks but it seems a bit hit and miss on when it arrives.

The medical costs 40 euro. If you are under 70 then you pay something like 24 euro ish to renew it. Over 70 and it is free. My wife was one day before 70 and had to pay the 24 bit as well.

Ask if the medical centre will receive the licence (no postboxes? How do they get mail?) or at a post office receiving centre.

They'll need their old driving licence and TIE.

There are several options, but many use Clinica La Siesta because it's a 'one stop shop' and can all be done in English. It cost us €60 around a year ago (for an extra €10 they said they can receive the new licence for you). Take your old licence and TIE. There is an eye test and reactions tests plus an assessment by the doctor. Take any glasses you would normally wear. They take the new photo for you. Telephone 966784195 or WhatsApp 692134136 for an appointment. I think, if you have certain health conditions, a certificate may be needed from your own doctor to confirm you're healthy enough to drive, but I am not familiar with those personally. P.S. I see Marcliff has already replied in a similar vein. I'm not 70 so the costs may be a little different as he suggests.

Spanish licences are not automatically due for renewal at age 70 but at the date of expiry on the existing licence.

The renewal process is essentially the same as when you first got the Spanish licence.

According to DGT after 70 licences are renewable for a maximum of 2 years but my wife is over 70 renewed hers recently and got 3 years, go figure!

I got 5 years and am late eighties

Brilliant ,your relies are really appreciated.

Thank goodness we have this forum,there's always a good chance someone will come up with a comprehensive answer.

Do you have to renew the license when you turn 70 or wait until the license expires. I turn 70 in February but my license doesn’t expire until Oct.

When it expires as Darro has said. The date on the back is the expiry date. You can renew it up to 3 months before it runs out and keep the same date and you can also renew it if it has run out.

It's just that most of us from UK had a UK licence which ran out when you were 70 and they issued you a Spanish one with the same run out date.

jpeg wrote:I got 5 years and am late eighties

Reinforces my point and also highlights that the N332organisation may not quite be the authoritative voice of the DGT some seem to believe it to be.

Where did you renew I wonder, not that it should make any difference other than the doctors report?

marcliff wrote:It's just that most of us from UK had a UK licence which ran out when you were 70 and they issued you a Spanish one with the same run out date.

I was a couple of years short of 70 when I exchanged my UK licence but still got 5 years so that would not appear to be a concrete benchmark.

Seemingly until 2009 2 years was the standard but since then it should be 3 - or at least until the latest pronouncement which does not seem to have fully landed on the desks of DGT operatives, no surprise there then!

https://road-safety.transport.ec.europa.eu/road-safety-member-states/driving-licence-member-states/driving-licence-models_en?page=8

"jpeg wrote:
I got 5 years and am late eighties
Reinforces my point and also highlights that the N332organisation may not quite be the authoritative voice of the DGT some seem to believe it to be.

Where did you renew I wonder, not that it should make any difference other than the doctors report?"

I renewed at the centre in the main street in Catral but have always got a five year renewal since I passed 70 and at centres in Guardamar and Almoradi