Driving in Spain Checklist: Documents & Equipment

Owning a car, as a foreigner living here in Spain, might not be as run-of-the-mill as it is in your home country. However, the longer you live here, the more likely it is you will buy your own car. If you find yourself living in a smaller town, or if you decide to start a family, a car might become indispensable. Alternatively, you might take advantage of the rental car option for excursions and holidays. Whatever the case, you need to check that you are all legal when you are ready to hit the road. In this article we’ll deal with the documents you need to have in your car. But first, let’s check you have all the other things in order.

Remember to check that your licence is valid. In summary, most licences are valid for the first 6 months of living in Spain. European licences continue to be valid, as do some others. You can find out more by reading our Typical non-Spanish article here: Do I need an international driver’s license in Spain? 

Did you know that many licences need to be changed over to a Spanish licence (which of course will also be valid throughout Europe) after 6 months? This now includes UK licences.  Learn how to change your driving licence in Spain.

So, when you’re ready to get motoring you need to check that you have the required documents in your car. In Spain, it’s compulsory to carry certain documents in your car. If the police stop you, they will expect you to have them and not carrying these documents could mean a fine ranging from 10€ for not carrying your licence, to 500€ for your documents not being valid, as well as being prosecuted for a serious offence. Below, we will share the documents you need to have in your car, and some that we recommend you carry as well, even if they’re not mandatory.

Driving in Spain Checklist: 3 mandatory documents

• A valid driving licence.

• Registration certificate: This is a certificate issued by the European Union, which includes details of the car and its owner.

• ITV card: Issued when the car passes the technical inspection. It’s important that you also have the circular sticker that states the year it passed the ITV check, stuck in a corner of your windshield.

If you lose any of these documents, you must go to the nearest police station and report the loss or theft, then get an appointment at the Directorate General of Traffic (www.dgt.es/) so you can get your new copy. In the meantime, you can still drive, and if a policeman asks you for the documents, you just need to show proof of having filed a report. No photocopies of these documents are valid unless they are certified, so it is always better to carry the originals.

Some of the fines which may be applied for not having the correct paperwork applicable to you are as follow:

• Not carrying your licence while driving: 10 euros. You will of course need to produce this at a police station in the near future.

• Outdated details: 80 euros. This could include information about where you are currently living for example.

• Expired licence: 200 euros.

• Driving a vehicle not covered on your licence: 500 euros + 4 points. This could mean driving a truck or a bus on a car licence.

• Driving with an invalid licence: Up to 500 euros. This may also have further prosecution for this very serious offence.

Some of the fines which may be applied for not having the correct paperwork applicable to the vehicle you are driving are as follow:

• Vehicle which is not registered or does not have the ITV (that’s the certificate of roadworthiness, like an MOT in the UK): 500 euros.

• An expired ITV: 200 euros.

• Driving with an uninsured vehicle: Fines from around 600€ up to about 3,000 euros.

Remember that your driving licence and your identification card (NIE for foreigners) must match, otherwise you could face a fine of up to 80€. 

Driving in Spain Checklist: Compulsory equipment

Besides the driving in Spain checklist for required documents, there are few pieces of equipment that you must keep in your car too:

• Two danger-signaling triangles to place behind your car in case of accident (at a certain distance to warn others).

• A reflective vest to wear when you are out of the car in case of accident. Carrying it in the trunk is discouraged since it would mean walking from the front seat of your car to the trunk without a vest that allows other drivers to see you.

• A spare wheel.

• Necessary tools for a wheel replacement.

• Snow chains in case of snow or ice.

It seems a bit crazy that it’s not compulsory to have a spare wheel. What happens if you break down in the middle of nowhere?  Surely you could save yourself oodles of time by doing a quick change yourself rather than waiting for a breakdown truck to arrive. And then of course, they would either need to put your car on the truck or find you a spare wheel or tyre replacement and bring it to you. However, that’s the law, so there you go. 

Thankfully, Caser Seguro’s car insurance policies include breakdown cover. You can check all the coverage here.

Optional documents

There are other documents that used to be compulsory but are now only optional. However, it can be practical to keep all documents concerning your car in one place, even the optional ones. This way, if the policeman is checking a document digitally and encounters technical problems, you are able to provide the original document. Optional documents include:

• Proof of tax payment: This can now be checked digitally by the police.
• Proof of insurance: This is also registered and the police can check that you are insured via a database.

If you want to make sure you have everything under control, you can download Typical Non Spanish’s printable checklist of documents and equipment to carry in your car.

Rental cars usually come with all of these things, and if your car has all the right documents and equipment, we recommend you take as good care of them. We also recommend comparing your car insurance options to get the best deal. To make everything easier for you, we've created a printable document checklist!