As you know, according to Spanish law, driving a vehicle in the territory of the Kingdom of Spain without a driving license is considered a crime. This type of crime is very common among foreign citizens who, for whatever reasons, could not obtain Spanish rights or exchange domestic rights for Spanish ones.
The residence permit is at risk
But it seems that most foreigners do not see this as a problem and continue to drive on Spanish roads. Police raids on roads do not happen very often, but they do happen. And if you were stopped by the traffic police for a routine document check, then the lack of a driver’s license can lead to serious problems when renewing your residence permit. Lack of driver’s license is a real reason for refusing to renew a residence permit in Spain.
An article on the invalidity of driver’s licenses issued by traffic police authorities at the place of residence in the country of origin in Spain after three months has been published on the website of the Main Department of the Traffic Police. Thus, a foreign citizen, staying in Spain for three months, has the right to use his driver’s license only as a tourist (if he has a valid tourist visa in his passport). After this period, driving licenses are considered invalid.
Blacklisted
Unfortunately, cases were recorded when foreigners living in Spain without documents for more than 3 months tried to “deceive” the Spanish traffic police, referring to the lack of residence documents or “ignorance” of the law. Those citizens whose documents are pending must also be extremely vigilant when driving a vehicle, because their data will be entered in the traffic police register in any case, if the driver did not present a driver’s license when stopped.
Due to the prevalence of this type of violation, the Main Directorate of the Traffic Policea clear instruction was given to register “undisciplined” foreign drivers and transfer the information to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.