From 'Island News'
New Driving Rules in January
A new driving rules EU directive comes into force on 19 January 2013, and is intended to harmonise licensing rules throughout Europe, it means licence holders from countries with permanently valid licences like France, or licences valid up to age 70 like the UK, must comply with the same rules as residents of the European country in which they are resident. In reality this means the holders of these types of licences will now have to take a driving fitness medical test every ten years if under age 65, or every 5 years if over 65. The rules will apply to all British drivers in Spain once they have been resident here for two years, and Trafico will impose a €200 fine on anyone who doesn't comply. The medical fitness controls, which include hand-eye coordination exercises, sight and hearing tests and general health questionnaire, are performed at various centres locally.
1. Please can anyone let me know where these tests are carried out and how you go about booking one? Costs involved? Also, do you need to take an interpretor or are the instructions/questions fairly simple/easy to understand?
2. Info on obtaining a Spanish licence would be helpful as well, as I'm sure that would be appropriate for some people.
Cheers.
Whoops - thought I had posted in 'Queries' - sorry!
There are at least two places that carry out the examinations, both very close to Trafico in Puerto, and Trafico will tell you where to go. They both have a series of pictograms over the doors, showing driving, shooting, diving, sailing and other stuff, so presumably they are also issuing licenses for other activities. When I went , there was no booking - you just walk in and can do the test immediately. I don't think you will need an interpreter, it's all very easy. I think it costed about 40 euros last year for car-only, 60 for car plus van.
Thanks for the information, as I wasn't aware of the new rules.
How nice, something I`n not old enough for yet!
So does this mean , you only have to take the medical, and you do not have to change your UK license for a Spanish one.
Am I correct in understanding this is only for licences issued for life.
Irish licences which are issued for a max. of 10 years do not come under this requirements ?
Can someone please clarify.
Thanks
when i changed my licence had a hearing test, eye test and then a quick go on the simulator (basically like a 70s video game and had to use your hands on 2 sticks and keep the coloured dot between the lines.......pretty simple and when i asked what score is a fail the girl simply smiled....
Also be aware that if on the declaration you say you are diabetic......licence only valid for 3 years. no problem just means have to go and do it all again every 3 years.
Pretty sure cost was about 40€ and then a case of trotting off to trafico and getting the relevent form which you have to put a photo on but do not presume like I did that the photo has to fit in the seperate box marked photo........yes it does but they then trim it to about 75% of the size of that box so I had to go back again with another photo (thank you adobe photoshop). Then the 2 month wait (or more depending) where you have just a slip of paper from trafico in lieu of licence (had to surrender uk licence)...no problem here but a bit of a bugger if you plan on going back to uk/ireland anytime before your actual licence arrives in the post.
Quote from: zedzedeleven on January 17, 2013, 14:11:44 PM
How nice, something I`n not old enough for yet!
cor - you not old enough to drive?? :D
As I understand it (and please feel free to correct me), a UK licence is valid for life (well, until age 70 anyway), but the photo on it is only valid for 10 years and then needs renewing. The photo renewal form asks you to confirm that you are living in the UK, (and that they will check with various other Government bodies) so if you are living in Fuerte you would need to change over to a Spanish licence at this point. (There may be other Spanish rules that require you to change over earlier - if anyone has knowledge of these please post the info.)
My take on it is that Irish licences are no different to the UK ones as far as these rules are concerned.
Perhaps more related to UK than Spain:- I'm still on a green UK licence with no photopart. Tamara mentions that the photo is only valid for 10 years - am I still legal with no photpart? My licence is well over 10 years old and as far as I know, dorsn't need changing until I'm 70.
I am not resident in Canaries/Spain, just a regular visitor.
I went to the UK for 6 months last year, and decided to update my UK address, on my license. The license came back asking for new photos, and said it had been inavalid for 2 years. I never knew you had to renew the photo after 10 years. I just assumed it all lasted, until I was 70.
The worst part was I had driven from Corralejo on the ferry, drove all through mainland Spain, and then all through the uk, and my license was invalid, lucky I never got stopped.
The DVLA in the UK have just announced fines of up to £1000 , if your stopped, and your photo was not renewed after the 10 year period. They reckons thousand have just forgot or did not realise they needed to do this.
Just a point, I renewed my UK photo licence just three months ago. I sent off the application together with newly taken photo. The new licence came back with my original photo on it from 10 years ago! Maybe some kind soul there didn't think I had aged enough to warrant the new pic!!! :D
You are legal to drive even if your photo license has run out those who do not have one are receiving letters saying they must now get a photo license. your uk id card :D
UK ID card is right. You can renew your Driving Licence photo online if you have renewed your UK Passport in the last few years - they use the photo you submitted with that! :o
Where is the Traffico office in Puerto please? Is it the same building as where you get Residencias etc? I know someone kindly posted a link to some addresses the other day but I can't find the post - sorry!
More details on the change to regulations here
> http://tinyurl.com/az3uckm (http://tinyurl.com/az3uckm)
Trafico in Puerto http://www.jefaturasdetrafico.com/jefatura-de-trafico-de-puerto-del-rosario (http://www.jefaturasdetrafico.com/jefatura-de-trafico-de-puerto-del-rosario)
their entrance is facing one of the empty plots (if fact, the googlemaps balloon is standing over an empty plot :)), and the very last bit of search could be confusing because of it. Just ask somebody. When I was looking, I stopped a guy and started to say in my best spanish "I am looking..." - he didn't let me finish and said with great assurance "trafico!" and took me there personally :)
So if your a permanate resident in Fuerteventura you can drive round on your English licence.?
When I moved to Holland 30 years ago I had to hand over my English licence after 6 months and replace it with a dutch rijberwijs. New photo every 5 years, this can be done at the town hall.
I've driven on Fuerteventura as a resident for the last 9 years on a UK licence. This year I have to change to a Spanish licence as my UK one runs out.
If you renew your UK licence on line there is an option where they can use your passport photo instead of sending in a new one. At last joined up computer systems.
Quote from: growers on January 19, 2013, 15:39:26 PM
When I moved to Holland 30 years ago I had to hand over my English licence after 6 months and replace it with a dutch rijberwijs. New photo every 5 years, this can be done at the town hall.
I moved to Holland in 1993 and was told it was theoretically possible to keep my UK licence, but it would be a real hassle as the police would query it all the time, and I would at the very least need a translation of the licence so they could understand what it was saying (as if there's more than a handful of Dutch people who don't understand English!). I got a rijberwijs, then a French permis de conduire, so I might as well add the Spanish version to my collection now I live here. As we're 57 and 63 it was nice having a never-to-be-taken-away licence, but we'll just have to keep our fingers crossed (hopefully not our eyes :)).
Just to clarify, for driving in the the UK your photocard lasts for ten years although your entitlement lasts until you are 70. Confused?
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/renew-driving-licence (http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/renew-driving-licence)
It would appear that if it's expired it's invalid in the UK and everywhere else. There are plenty of people caught out by this weirdness.
I've managed to retain my old paper licence that is still valid - the hire companies don't blink so I assume the Guardia are familiar with them also.
The DVLA recommend changing the old paper for a photocard but don't give a proper reason why - obviously just blagging people into paying the dosh for the new version.
I`m still on a paper licence as well and it has been accepted by Cicar every time without comment. Useful to know advice there from Dave W as well.
I remember not that many years ago a little old lady coming into my police station to produce her driving licence and handing over... a little red booklet! (These used to be issued locally and were phased out about 1970). I was just about the only one there old enough to know what it was, though even I was too young to have had one myself. Luckily the DVLA database had been linked to police computers by then and I was able to confirm that she did have a driving entitlement. I wrote down instructions for her to apply for a proper licence before sending her off.
Anyone on here old enough to have a "wartime" licence? They were apparently valid for eternity.
paper licences are being phased out. by 2015 EVERYONE in Uk will have to have a photocard!
Quote from: raspberriesandcream on January 21, 2013, 12:03:55 PM
paper licences are being phased out. by 2015 EVERYONE in Uk will have to have a photocard!
It sez age 70 or 2033 on the moneysaving expert website above.
Quote from: zedzedeleven on January 21, 2013, 10:28:42 AM
Anyone on here old enough to have a "wartime" licence? They were apparently valid for eternity.
My father died a couple of years ago now, but he had a wartime licence as he was a conscientious objector who drove London ambulances etc right through the blitz. He never took a test, but he had not only a car licence but also PSV and HGV, for life. :-X I know he was driving a car occasionally in his eighties though I don't think he did in his last decade. I guess that type of licence is dying out with its holders now.
Went to the Traffico office and the medical test centre, in Rosario. They told me I did not have to take the medical test, or change to a Spanish License, until my UK license is due for renewal. I explained about the new law, from January 19th, he said it does not apply to me.It's not what has been written previously , unless the new law only applies to mainland Spain. So am totally confused now.
If there is one downside to Fuerteventura it is the lack of reliable information even from the authorities.
The same goes for regular events, the lack of publically available information never ceases to amaze me.
I know there are strict laws about advertising (selling your car with an advert in the window for example), but .....
I often wonder what would happen if there was a Major incident over there, would it be passed on secretly to a few chosen citizens, to be filtered out slowly to the rest of the community, if so, God help us all.
We all laugh or moan about the PC brigade and the Health and Safety laws in the UK that seem to get more incredible each year, but it feels like the same thing in reverse when in Fuerte. ::)
Island Connections article. :)
Driving license changes. Dont panic.
Rumours have abounded about the driving licence changes that came into force across Europe on January 19.
28.01.2013 - What is certainly true is that the changes will affect everyone resident in any European country and, in particular, people from countries such as the UK who are living on foreign shores. British licences have traditionally been issued without the need for periodic updates and usually run for the period up to the holder's 70th birthday. However, the new law states that member countries are now able to apply their local licence validity periods to all foreign nationals living in their country. That means that, regardless of whether you still have your UK licence or not, if you are resident here for two years, you will now have to have regular medical examinations and tests if you wish to keep driving, in line with local law. Depending on which category of vehicle you are driving these will be every five or 10 years. But don't panic: despite alarming revelations in some media the new directive does not mean the Guardia Civil will immediately be handing out fines to all UK nationals resident in the Islands. A spokesperson from the European Commission told us, "Based on the information available to the commission the Spanish authorities would request the exchange of EU national driving licences after two years of normal residence counting from January 19, 2013 onwards. This practice would be in line with the Driving Licence Directive (2006/126/EC)." This confirms our information from Tráfico (the Spanish version of the DVLA), i.e. that residents will have two years from the introduction of the new directive to exchange their licences for the new European model. That means that by January 19, 2015, you must have declared your residency to Tráfico and been accepted into the Spanish system. Then and, hopefully, only then, will the fines be introduced for those who have not done so. To UK licence holders this may seem an inconvenience, but the majority of countries already adhere to this rule. And it makes sense: the medical includes general health information as well as tests for response times, hand-eye coordination, eyesight and hearing, and who can argue that it is not vital for drivers to be fully fit to drive if they are to be in charge of a vehicle, for their own safety as well as the safety of others? One of the other main aims of the new European directive is the homogenisation of licence regulations and appearance, thus facilitating Europe-wide acceptability of individual country's licences, as well as the tightening up of local laws on minimum standards. The new legislation will introduce a single driving licence model across Europe, as well as slight changes to the various vehicle categories and the necessary requirements for each one. For instance, a new category for mopeds has been created and the minimum age for driving larger bikes and certain public transport vehicles has been changed. All licences issued on or after 19 January 2013 will have to meet the terms of this new directive. That includes licences that are exchanged, renewed or handed in when notifying a change of address or circumstances. When your licence is exchanged you will not lose any category you were entitled to before. However, it is worth noting that due to the vehicle category alterations your entitlement may be shown differently on your new licence. Whilst you may have two years to comply with the new laws, it may be worth taking the necessary steps as soon as possible. Apart from anything, if you are resident here and still hold a UK licence you are already breaking the DVLA's regulations. These state clearly that you must be resident in the UK to be eligible for a British licence. You will also have signed the section declaring that this is so. Additionally, by doing it sooner rather than later, you may avoid the normal confusion that accompanies any introduction of new traffic laws.