Community residents must renew their driver's licenses
18 - 11 - 2014
Foreigners from the EU residing in Spain must renew their driver's license
Foreign citizens from the EU residing in Spain must renew their driving license as of January 19, 2015.
It is mandatory for all those EU residents with legal residence in Spain, obtained on or before January 19, 2013, and who are holders of a driving license with indefinite validity or more than 15 years for Group 1 licenses (AM, A1, A2, A, B and BE), or a term of more than 5 years for Group 2 licenses (BTP, C1 and BE). It is also mandatory to renew the driver's license for all those legal residents whose authorization is about to expire or has expired.
This obligation responds to the need to comply with the Community Directive 2006/126/EC, and its transposition to the General Drivers Regulation (RD 818/2009 of May 8), to correct the differences between EU countries in relation to the periodicity of license renewal. According to the regulation, member states may apply the period of validity to a license that does not have limited administrative validity, issued by another member state, and in whose territory the holder has resided for more than two years. Since 2013, all European Union countries have had a single driving license for all 28 member states, a license that has replaced the more than 110 types of driving licenses that existed previously and allows driving in all EU countries.
It is mandatory for all those EU residents with legal residence in Spain, obtained on or before January 19, 2013, and who are holders of a driving license with indefinite validity or more than 15 years for Group 1 licenses (AM, A1, A2, A, B and BE), or a term of more than 5 years for Group 2 licenses (BTP, C1 and BE). It is also mandatory to renew the driver's license for all those legal residents whose authorization is about to expire or has expired.
This obligation responds to the need to comply with the Community Directive 2006/126/EC, and its transposition to the General Drivers Regulation (RD 818/2009 of May 8), to correct the differences between EU countries in relation to the periodicity of license renewal. According to the regulation, member states may apply the period of validity to a license that does not have limited administrative validity, issued by another member state, and in whose territory the holder has resided for more than two years. Since 2013, all European Union countries have had a single driving license for all 28 member states, a license that has replaced the more than 110 types of driving licenses that existed previously and allows driving in all EU countries.
