RHD in Spain, exporting, insurance, etc
Discussion
Hi All,
I'm intending on relocating near the end of this year to Spain. It will be close to Benahavis, maybe 15 minutes drive west of Marbella.
We've been building a place there for many years, and its finally looking like happening, after many setbacks. Now, I have the option to export a car back to Australia eventually, as its very lucrative to do that, hence why I'd rather keep a RHD drive car (taking the longer term view). I've already exported one car from the UK to Australia a few years ago, so I'm happy with that side of things.
The last I read about it, you need to own the car for 6 months, and then you don't pay the Spanish first registration fee.
Assuming I did my research and bought a car with a good upside to export to Australia, I would expect to keep it here for about 6 months, and then head over to Spain. After 6 months in Spain, then I'd like to send it to Australia.
So, my question would be:
Do I need to register it in Spain immediately, or is there some legal way of keeping it on UK plates / insurance / MOT / etc etc? I've heard people talk about driving to Gibraltar periodically, and if we needed to, we could quite happily take a trip outside Spain to maybe not have the continuous 3 months rules of residency. We have a place here in London which is our home for now, so maybe we could keep it as our home for domicile purposes.
Really, I just would like to understand what is the easiest way to have it for about 6 months in Spain.
I'm intending on relocating near the end of this year to Spain. It will be close to Benahavis, maybe 15 minutes drive west of Marbella.
We've been building a place there for many years, and its finally looking like happening, after many setbacks. Now, I have the option to export a car back to Australia eventually, as its very lucrative to do that, hence why I'd rather keep a RHD drive car (taking the longer term view). I've already exported one car from the UK to Australia a few years ago, so I'm happy with that side of things.
The last I read about it, you need to own the car for 6 months, and then you don't pay the Spanish first registration fee.
Assuming I did my research and bought a car with a good upside to export to Australia, I would expect to keep it here for about 6 months, and then head over to Spain. After 6 months in Spain, then I'd like to send it to Australia.
So, my question would be:
Do I need to register it in Spain immediately, or is there some legal way of keeping it on UK plates / insurance / MOT / etc etc? I've heard people talk about driving to Gibraltar periodically, and if we needed to, we could quite happily take a trip outside Spain to maybe not have the continuous 3 months rules of residency. We have a place here in London which is our home for now, so maybe we could keep it as our home for domicile purposes.
Really, I just would like to understand what is the easiest way to have it for about 6 months in Spain.
Thanks guys, that's very helpful.
I just did a quick google images search on "spanish registered cars" and saw that there is an OO23JDR registered Ford.
I've noticed a lot of other plates with 4 digits and then 3 letters, but obviously the previous one is easier with our DVLA.
Invaluable advice, thank you guys!
I just did a quick google images search on "spanish registered cars" and saw that there is an OO23JDR registered Ford.
I've noticed a lot of other plates with 4 digits and then 3 letters, but obviously the previous one is easier with our DVLA.
Invaluable advice, thank you guys!
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