How to register a foreign car in Spain.

When you have to register

Once you are resident in Spain, your car has to be registered there. The Spanish registration tax law gives you 30 days from the moment you start using the car in Spain, and 60 days if you bring it as part of your move and the tax exemption applies. After that the tax is due whether the car is registered or not, and the exemption is lost.

So the clock doesn't start when you buy the car, but when you use it in Spain. Driving down and leaving it parked for a while uses up time you need for the paperwork.

What you need in Spain first

Before it's about the car, Spain needs to know who you are. To register, you need:

• an NIE (Número de Identidad de Extranjero), your Spanish foreigner's number, or the residence certificate that shows it;
• proof of address: ideally the town hall registration certificate (certificado de empadronamiento), otherwise a rental contract or title deed;
• Spanish third-party insurance valid from the day of registration. Your current insurance does not cover a car on Spanish plates.

The car is registered in the name of the keeper shown on its documents.

Step 1: the documents from your country

Spain wants to see the originals. The names differ from country to country — the Dutch registration card, the French carte grise, the German Zulassungsbescheinigung Teil I and II — but what Spain needs from them is the same:

Step 2: deregistration at home

The Spanish traffic authority requires the car to be taken off the register of its country of origin. There is no common EU procedure for this, and it is where countries differ most:

• some allow it remotely, online or through someone with a power of attorney — Germany, for example, for newer cars with security codes on the papers;
• others require the plates to be handed back and, depending on the case, someone to appear in person — the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and Austria, among others;
• France has no export deregistration as such: the car is declared as transferred for export online, on the ANTS portal.

What matters is the order. Between deregistration and Spanish registration the car may neither be driven nor parked on a public road. So get the taxes and the registration appointment sorted first, so that this window lasts days, not weeks, and plan a garage or a private parking space for it.

Some countries issue temporary export plates with their own insurance and expiry date, so you can drive the car to Spain. The alternative is a car transporter: from about €950, depending on the route.

Step 3: the ITV inspection

The ITV is the Spanish roadworthiness test, and for an import it is more than that: the inspection station checks that the car matches its European type approval and issues the Spanish technical data sheet, the tarjeta ITV. You need:

• the registration certificate;
• proof of type approval: the COC and the reduced technical data sheet (ficha técnica reducida) that an accredited engineer prepares from the COC data;
• the invoice or purchase contract, if the car is not yet in your name.

The keeper doesn't have to go in person: anyone you trust can present the car with the paperwork. If the car has modifications that aren't in the COC, such as a tow bar or different wheels, the ITV may require them to be legalised in Spain separately, even if they were approved at home.

Step 4: the taxes

Before you apply for registration, the following must be paid or declared exempt:

Registration tax (Modelo 576)

Spain charges a one-off tax the first time a car is registered in the country, including used cars that have been on the road abroad for years. It depends on the CO₂ figure: 0% up to 120 g/km, 4.75% up to 159, 9.75% up to 199 and 14.75% from 200 on the mainland and the Balearics. The taxable base is not what you paid but an official table value. How it's calculated is in the guide to the registration tax.

VAT (Modelo 309), only for new cars

If the car has been registered for less than six months or has done 6,000 km or less, it counts as new for tax purposes and Spanish VAT of 21% is due. A dealer selling a new car to another EU country invoices it without their own VAT; if they charged it, have the invoice corrected before registration.

Transfer tax, only if you bought privately

If you bought the car from a private seller, the traffic authority asks for proof of the regional transfer tax (Impuesto de Transmisiones Patrimoniales), paid or exempt. Each region sets its own rate. For a car you have owned for a long time it doesn't apply.

Spanish road tax (IVTM)

The annual tax of your town hall. For registration the car is entered there and the first year is paid pro rata. Depending on the town and the car's fiscal horsepower, €30 to €200 a year.

Step 5: registration and plates

With everything above, you apply for registration with the Spanish traffic authority, the DGT (known as Tráfico), online or at the provincial office. The fee 1.1 is €99.77 in 2026. You receive the Spanish registration certificate (permiso de circulación) and the number; an authorised maker produces the plates when you show the certificate. From then on you drive with Spanish insurance.

What it costs

What you pay, who collects it and what it depends on. Third-party amounts are indicative:

If you hand it over, the service comes on top. Ours is a fixed €1,480 for cars from the EU, including the DGT fee, the ITV fee, the data sheet and the plates. The taxes are not included because they aren't ours: we calculate them, file them and pay them in your name, but the tax office and the town hall collect the amount. A fully worked example is on our service page.

How long it takes

With complete paperwork and signed powers of attorney, 4 to 6 weeks to the plates. What stretches the timeline most:

• a missing COC: about two weeks, which is how long the manufacturer takes;
• a car for which no COC exists and that needs an individual approval: about four weeks more and a lab report;
• a proof of ownership held by the bank because of financing;
• ITV appointments in provinces with long waiting times;
• customs, for cars from outside the EU.

Tax-free when you move

If you bring the car because you are moving your residence to Spain, it can be exempt from the registration tax. Among other things, the law requires that:

• you lived outside Spain for the previous twelve months without interruption;
• you used the car at your old place of residence for at least six months before leaving, and bought it there with the normal taxes paid;
• registration is applied for within 60 days;
• you don't sell the car in the twelve months after registration.

The exemption is declared to the Spanish tax office before registration and supported with proof that you left your old residence and of how long you have had the car. If one condition is missing, the full tax is due. So check it before the car crosses the border, not after.

Planning your move? The six months of use and the proof of your old residence are decided before you leave. If you are thinking of selling the car first or buying one just before the move, check what that does to the exemption.

Cars from outside the EU

A car from the United Kingdom, Switzerland or another country outside the EU also goes through customs before it can be registered: up to 10% duty on its value and 21% import VAT on value plus duty, unless it is exempt as part of a change of residence. A British car can come out at zero duty under the rules of origin, and Switzerland has its own regime. The rest of the steps are the same.

Because customs depends on the case, our price there starts from €2,950 and is quoted in writing after the document check.

The most common mistakes

• Leaving the car on foreign plates for months and letting the 60 days for the tax exemption run out.
• Deregistering before the registration appointment is fixed, and then not being allowed to move the car for weeks.
• Calculating the tax from the purchase price. Spain uses table values, which can be higher than what you paid.
• Asking the bank for the ownership document too late when the car was financed.
• Selling the car within twelve months and having to pay the registration tax after all.