Importing your car into Spain

A guide to importing a car or other vehicle into Spain

Moving to Spain raise a lot of administrational questions. One of them is what should you do with your car – whether import it or not. Are you allowed to drive in Spain with a foreign number plate? VIDA del SOL will inform you on all of these matters.

According to the general rule, if you are a resident in Spain, you are not allowed to drive around in a car with a foreign number plate. However, it is ok to do so if you are a non-resident in Spain. If you are planning to stay in Spain for more than six months in a row, then you should register your car upfront in the local police office. If you already entered Spain with your car, you can apply for a temporary registration at the Spanish traffic authority until the general procedure is completed.

VIDA del SOL in collaboration with a renowned business office OFIAUTO in Malaga has already successfully imported many vehicles for its customers. We offer an effective and time saving solution, from picking up the vehicle at the owner’s house to delivering the officially registered car to Spain in less than 2 weeks.

If you are up to the task of importing your car in Spain yourself, you have to follow a strict procedure. There are several crucial steps:

First of all, you can bring your car to Spain by land, sea or plane, depending on the country of origin. There are many companies that are specialised in the transportation of cars. We strongly advise to contact one of them upfront.

Once your car has arrived in Spain you will need the following documents:

The original purchase invoice or purchase contract
Copy of the seller’s identity card and his contact details
Copy of the buyer’s identity card and his contact details
European Certificate of Conformity (C.O.C) of the vehicle
If it is not available, then it is necessary to start with the unified
approval procedure
Tax declarations for importing your vehicle in Spain
Customs duties and VAT payments
Payment of a tax on the specific model of a vehicle

To ensure that the vehicle meets the requirements for driving on public roads, it must undergo a technical inspection in Spain, the result of which will be a technical inspection report. There is a list of documents you have to present so the vehicle can be inspected:

Technical map of the vehicle
Driver’s license from the owner
Vehicle insurance certificate
Proof of taxes payment and import duties (original and copy)
Invoice or purchase contract of the vehicle (original and copy)

As soon as you receive the technical inspection report, you can proceed with the registration of the vehicle.

Registration of a car in Spain.

On this stage you must make an appointment at the headquarters of the Directorate-General for Transport (DGT) in the province where you live and provide the following set of documents:

Technical map of the vehicle
European Certificate of Conformity of the vehicle
Officially legalised translations of all the documents into Spanish

You will have to pay the registration fee, of course. Its rate is based on the vehicle’s CO2 emission and varies between 4.75% (121-159g/km) and 14.75% (200g/km or more). When all these actions are successfully fulfilled in the right order, you will receive a new Spanish number plate for your vehicle. Since then you will be obliged to pay the annual road tax in Spain.

Some information about the main costs

Road tax: it may vary per city or village and depends on the type of a vehicle and the year it was produced in;
Temporary license plate tax: about 20 Euro;
Number plates (a set of two) printed in metal: about 20 Euro (don’t forget that you must do this twice – with the temporary number plate and the final one);
Permanent Spanish registration certificate: about 90 Euro;
Car insurance: depends on the insurance company’s rates
Technical description/data: it may vary per city or village and also per engineer – about 80 Euro;
Technical inspection: about 90 Euro;
Import tax: based on the vehicle brand, its model/type, its cylinders, emissions and the type of fuel it consumes.

Tips

Since the process of importing your vehicle can take some time, it is strongly advised to request a temporary number plate first. With this temporary number plate you will have 60 days to go through all the steps of importing your vehicle in Spain while you will be protected by Spanish law.
Make copies of all documents in advance. For example at the technical inspection office your application can be postponed until your set of documents is complete. Sometimes this means a delay of couple of days. It is important that you speak Spanish or have someone who does to accompany you during the technical inspection procedure as mostly the engineers there don’t speak English.

Marbella way of living

Importing your car into Spain