How to get a driver’s license in Spain

If you came from a country with which Spain does not have an agreement on the recognition of VU, you will not be able to exchange your certificate – you will have to study and apply for the license again. When I came to Barcelona in 2018, there were rumors that Russia was about to conclude an agreement with Spain and Russian rights could simply be exchanged. It turned out that these rumors are already ten years old, and there is still no agreement.

Who can get a driver’s license. In Spain, VU is issued by the General Directorate of Traffic, better known as the “Direction General de Tráfico” – DGT. Here are the rules  DGT is publishing in 2022:

1. You must be a resident of Spain, that is, have a residence – a long-term residence permit. If you came to the country as a student, you will be issued another type of residence permit – an estancia. You need to live with her in the country for six months before you start studying at a driving school. At the same time, the estancia can be issued for only nine months, and you simply won’t have time to learn — the driving school won’t even approve your documents. Therefore, many students with an estancia do not consider themselves residents and use the universities of their countries.
2. You have not been banned from driving by a court order, your driving license has not been revoked in other EU countries and you have not lost all driving points in Spain due to a traffic offence. In fact, I have never been asked about the ban on managing MS.
3. You are 18 years old and about to get a category B driver’s license. You must be over 20 years old to drive a motorcycle. You can ride a moped with an engine volume of less than 50 cm with the AM category from the age of 15.
4. You do not have the rights of another EU country. If they are, they can be easily exchanged.
5. You can take a psychophysical test – an analogue of the medical commission in Russia. People with disabilities can pass a special commission: it determines that a person can drive, issues a permit and recommendations on how to convert a car.
6. You have passed theory and practical exams at DGT.

Do you need to know Spanish? The law does not require this. The theoretical exam can be taken in seven languages: Spanish, Catalan, Basque, Galician, English, French and German. Some schools have instructors who speak English and even Russian: many migrants come to work in English-speaking companies or maintain a circle of communication in their native language.

The practical exam is taken by DGT staff, they will speak only in Spanish. Most likely, you will not have to communicate much and you will pass the exam anyway, but knowing the language at least will not hurt.

General order. To get a license, you need to pass a theory test and practice in the city. Maneuvers on the site are not included in the exam, but parking skills need to be confirmed in the city.

By law, you can not study at a driving school and sign up for the theory test on the DGT website, but in 2021 I did not succeed: there were no available dates. Through the school, it turned out to be easier to get to the exam. To pass practice, you will need a special car with a second set of pedals. You will still have to rent it from a driving school even if you don’t learn. Categories of universities in Spain on the DGT website

In my opinion, it is easier to get a license through a driving school. Here’s what you’ll need for this:

1. Choose a school and conclude a study contract with it.
2. Prepare for the theoretical exam.
3. Issue a certificate.
4. Pay the state duty.
5. Take a theoretical exam.
6. Make an agreement with the school instructor about practical classes.
7. Prepare for the exam in lessons with an instructor.
8. Take a practical exam.
9. Download a temporary management permit on the DGT website.
10. Receive a plastic VP in the mail in a few months.

How to choose a driving school in Spain

What to pay attention to:

1. What is included in the tuition fee. Most often, the price includes matricula, which is a traditional registration fee in Spain, for which you will not receive any services. You can find a school where you don’t need to pay a matriculation fee.
2. How learning happens. During the pandemic, many schools have launched distance learning, but some still offer only face-to-face classes. The most advanced ones have a personal office and a mobile application to practice in theory tests – I studied just like that.
3. When you can take the theory exam. You can usually sign up two weeks in advance, but some schools only have the exam once a month.
4. What language do the instructors speak? It will probably be more difficult to find an English speaker.
5. Is it possible to change the instructor? You may not get along with characters. I was lucky with the instructor, and two guys complained about theirs and could not pass the exam. Then they started practicing with my instructor and everything worked out.
6. How many instructors the school has, how busy they are and when you can start driving lessons.
7. How often are practical exams held and when can you sign up for them.

Free instructors and the schedule of practice exams are factors that can delay your studies. I will tell you in more detail what you can encounter.

Downloading instructors. When I was going to prepare for the practical test, I visited four driving schools in Malaga. In one they said that the instructor will be released in about three months, in the second – in a month, or maybe even in five. There was a free instructor at the third school, and I immediately wrote to him. It turned out that he works from 09:00 to 18:00 on weekdays, and this schedule did not suit me.

In the fourth school  , I finally agreed with the instructor to start classes in the coming days from 08:00. Only after that I signed a contract with the school and paid for the lessons. This is important: schools are ready to invoice you immediately, even though the instructor may not leave soon. If the school refuses to give the contact details of the instructor, it is better to find another one: in Spain it is common to wait 3-6 months for practical classes.

Exam schedule. DGT allocates quotas for the exam according to a complex system: at a very small school it can be held once a month, at larger schools – every two weeks. The number of people that the examiner can accept is always different and depends on the load. It may turn out that the driving school has many times more students than places for exams. In 2021, there was a queue of 15,000 students waiting for enrollment in Granada.

In order not to wait several months for the test after driving, I immediately said that I was ready to take the practice test for the nearest slot. After two lessons with the instructor, I was confirmed for the exam in a week and a half, and I stretched out the lessons so that the last driving lesson was the day before the test.

How to pass a theory exam

Preparation. Traffic laws in Spain are not too different from Russian ones: traffic is on the right, on equivalent roads, traffic has priority on the right, pedestrians must be allowed to pass. It is more difficult to understand the wording and terms – this is a specific vocabulary that I have not come across before. Translation problems can be avoided if the theory is written in English.

At first, I started studying the textbook on road traffic in Spanish, but I realized that studying the theory in a foreign language is difficult and ineffective. That’s why I started taking tests in the driving school application, and if I didn’t understand the logic of the answer to the question, I consulted with the teacher.

The peculiarity of Spanish traffic laws is a whole chapter describing the influence of drugs and strong psycho-emotional states on the ability to drive. Such questions are found in tests. For example, how can depression or stress affect safe driving?

I thought the road traffic tests were very logical: if you are not sure about the answer, it is better to choose the one that seems the safest. There are also questions that simply need to be memorized: the meaning of signs, speed limits and lists of documents.

The exam consists of 30 questions and the right to make three mistakes. At first, I made mistakes more often in study tests. Then I started writing down mistakes and noticed that I was stumbling in the same places. I studied these questions separately and began to pass the tests better. When most of the tests started getting no more than three mistakes, I wrote to the driving school and asked to sign me up for the next test date.

Psychophysical test  Before the theory exam, you need to pass a medical examination and bring a certificate to the driving school. At the request of centro médico para conductores, I Googled the nearest medical center that issues driver’s licenses and made an appointment.

There is no need to pass a narcologist and a psychiatrist at the medical board, and vision is checked using a standard stand. If you must drive with glasses or contact lenses, this is indicated in the certificate.

You will also be asked to go through an unusual procedure that is more like a computer game. With the help of two metal handles you need to control the white balls on the screen. Both balls are moving and you need to keep them in the red zones. It’s easy, faster, unusual – this is how attention and the ability to focus on several objects at the same time are tested.

At the medical center, a photo is immediately taken: it will be pasted into your application for the exam, which the school sends to the DGT, and then it is used for the plastic VU. My photo didn’t turn out very well, so later I asked for it to be replaced.

Exam. I took the theory test in Palma de Mallorca, in the DGT office of the Balearic Islands region. You need to take an identity document to the exam – in my case it was a residence. Documents are checked at the entrance to the office where the test is taken.

Before the test, the rules are briefly explained: nothing can be used, only an ID can be on the table. The results are published  on the DGT website  in the evening of the same day or the next morning.

I took the test in Spanish on the computer. If you choose English, in some regions you will be asked to fill out the test on a paper form.

In the exam, I got questions that I have seen many times in practice tests. I answered in 20 minutes and went home. Later, the results were published – I passed the test without errors.

How to prepare and pass practice

Preparation. After passing the theory, you can start driving practice. The school gives the contact details of the instructor, and you yourself agree on a convenient time. You can start not immediately: the results of the theory test will be valid for two years.

I have hardly had any practice in the last five years, so I paid for a package of ten 45-minute sessions. If you feel confident behind the wheel, you can get by with five. There is no minimum number of hours, but your instructor must see that you are ready to pass.

Usually the instructor takes two students: the first one drives for 45 minutes, then the second one takes the wheel and returns to the starting point. It seemed to me that this was a waste of time, so we agreed with the instructor on five long classes of one and a half hours each.

During the classes, the instructor explained what to pay attention to in the exam. It is difficult for experienced drivers to adapt to the “exam” style of driving. For example, I used to remove my right hand from the steering wheel in advance to change gears, and one-handed control is a mistake. During the exam, you need to actively look in all directions and in the mirrors to show the examiner your attentiveness. When braking, it is better to gradually switch to a lower gear and not to abuse the pressed clutch.

The instructor also generally explained the structure of the car, because several technical questions may be asked on the exam. For example, how to check the oil level and where the coolant container is located. If you don’t speak Spanish, these specific terms will have to be learned.

In large cities, such as Barcelona and Malaga, there are several zones where the exam can be taken. You will learn a specific zone in just a week, so we practiced in all of them. On YouTube, at the request of examen practico de conducir málaga, I additionally viewed recordings of driving typical  exam routes  in Malaga. Such videos help you see difficult points, markings and signs that can easily be missed in the excitement.

I had to wait for my turn until almost 10:00. Here’s how the exam works:

1. The examiner is in the back seat, the instructor sits in front.
2. First of all, you need to buckle up, adjust the mirrors and seats. In my case, the examiner checked to see if I had lenses, as it was on my medical record.
3. 10-15 minutes you can freely drive around the city. If you know your way around well, they may ask you to go to a specific area.
4. Then, part of the time, the examiner indicates the path and tells where to turn at the intersections.
5. During the trip, the examiner may ask to park. I was offered rear parallel parking already at the end of the route. At first, I was far from the curb, so I parked again – it was not a mistake. I had other shortcomings: at the beginning of the journey, I forgot to remove the car from the handbrake, and at one of the intersections I did not turn on the first gear. This is not considered a mistake if you quickly orient yourself and do not create problems for other traffic participants.
6. After stopping, it is important not to forget about the handbrake.

I drove for about half an hour. After the stop, the examiner explained in detail where I went wrong. She spoke quickly and emotionally in Spanish, I did not understand anything and decided that I failed the exam.

The exam was held on Friday, so the results were published on Monday. It turned out that I passed the first time, despite the mistakes.

Errors while driving are divided into light, medium and severe. A serious mistake is creating a traffic hazard, for example, ignoring priority signs or cutting off another car. Medium – to create an obstacle for other traffic participants. Other mistakes are considered easy.

To fail the exam, you need to do:

1. one serious mistake. The exam ends immediately, you will be asked to return to the starting point;
2. two average errors;
3. one medium and five light;
4. ten easy mistakes.

I made four lunges and one medium mistake. On the website, you can immediately read what each one means. My mistake is 4.1: creating traffic obstructions, I was not going fast enough in the left lane on the highway.

After publishing the results, I immediately requested a temporary permit, which is sent to my email. Basically, these are temporary rights with which you can drive in Spain.

A plastic card – a permanent Driver’s License – is issued by DGT and sent by mail within several months. I found my rights in the mailbox three months later. This is a European-style license that can be used outside the country. For the first year, you must drive with an L sign – it means that you are a novice driver.

System of points and fines

Together with the driver’s license, you get 8 points. If not violated, points are added over the years:

1. In two years — 4 points.
2. In another three years – 2 points.
3. Three years later, 1 more point.

In total, after eight years of perfect driving, you will have 15 points.

Fines are issued and points are deducted for traffic violations. This is what will happen if you exceed the speed limit in the 30 km/h zone:

1. for a speed of 45 km/h, a fine of €100 will be issued), points will not be removed;
2. for 60 km/h they will be fined €300 and 2 points will be deducted;
3. for a speed of more than 81 km/h, a fine of up to €600 will be issued and 6 points will be deducted.

If you have few points left, you can take a 12-hour theory course and recover 6 points. The course costs €176.25 without VAT and can be taken no more than once every two years.

If you lose all the points, you will have to get new rights. To do this, you need to pay €331.78 without VAT and complete an additional 24-hour theory course and pass an exam on it. The new VU will be issued no earlier than in six months. And if within three years you lose all the points again, you will be able to get new rights in just one year.

It is better not to delay the payment of fines. In the first 20 days, you will pay only half of the amount, and if you delay payment for 45 days or more, a penalty of 20% will be charged. Residents receive fines by mail, but it is more convenient to check them in their personal account on the DGT website. You can pay online directly on the website, by bank transfer, through post offices and even by a special phone number. In some banks, you can pay fines through the program.

How much does it cost to get a driver’s license in Spain?

If you decide to get your license in Spain, you will have several expenses. Some can be avoided and others depend on your exam preparation.

Matricula   is a strange feature of pricing in Spain. In fact, it’s just paying for registration somewhere, for example, to a driving school, a sports center or a yoga class. The matriculation does not cover anything – it is a kind of entrance ticket. Services must be paid for separately.

Usually, registration fees in driving schools cost €40-80. I met the most expensive one at a Russian-language school in Marbella, it cost €200. When asked how the price is formed, I was told in detail that it is customary in Spain, and the price is set by the “partners”.

It seems to me that the school makes money from gullible compatriots in this way, hiding behind local traditions. The only advantage of that school was Russian-speaking instructors, although for the exam you still need to know basic words in Spanish.

You can find offers where you don’t have to pay tuition fees. It wasn’t there at my first school in Mallorca, which was modern, offered distance learning, a virtual classroom, a mobile app and a flexible practice schedule. You can enroll in a school with a special offer. In Málaga, I was offered to buy five practical classes for €30 with tuition for €70 or to pay €240 for ten classes and not pay tuition at all.

Lessons at a driving school in Spain. Usually, the service package includes access to theory and hours of practice, but the learning conditions at different schools can be very different from each other. You need to carefully compare prices and specify what is included in the price: how you can study the theory, how long to wait for a free instructor, how often exams are held. In addition, you will have to pay a fee for recording and renting a car for the practical exam.

customs duties In both exams, you need to pay €25-€50 for the recording service – tramitacion. For the driving test, you need to pay an additional €40-€50, this amount includes car rental and the time of the examiner. For recording and car rental services, you need to pay for each re-delivery.

Before the theory test, a toll is paid – €95.04. The price includes three attempts at both exams: if you pass the theory the first time, you will have the opportunity to retake the practice once. If you do not invest in three attempts, you will have to pay the fee again. €95.04​​need to be paid before the theory test to get three attempts to pass the exams

If you take both theory and practice twice, the duties will cost approximately €390​​:

• two customs duties of €95;
• four exam entries from €25;
• two car rental fees of €50.

The final cost of the rights depends on the specific region and driving school. In the Spanish press they write that it is cheapest to get a license in Granada, A Coruña and Badajoz – there it costs about €475. In Murcia, Bilbao and Barcelona, ​​the average price reaches €910.

My costs for a driver’s license in Spain are €716.46

cost item	What was included	Cost
Driving school in Mallorca, theory	Enrollment in a driving school, book with rules, access to lessons and tests in the application, the ability to consult with a teacher	€129
State Duty	Ability to pass exams in three attempts. In 2021, the duty was slightly cheaper	€93.12
Registration for the exam	Fee for submitting documents for the exam	25 €
Psychophysical test in a medical center	Medical commission certificate with a term of 3 months.	€52
Transfer to a driving school in Barcelona	School enrollment fee	€8.67
Transfer to a driving school in Malaga	School enrollment fee	€8.67
Practice in Barcelona	3 practical classes	€90
Practice in Malaga	School registration and 10 practical classes with an instructor of 45 minutes each	€240
Practical exam	Exam registration and car rental	€70