U.S Licenses in Spain? I just had an experience this morning after doing my grocery shopping in Hipercor i took by mistake a Stop sign. I was stop by local Police of Marbella that ask me for my personal documents as well as the cars . This is some Info I carry on me a copy of my US Passport as well as a copy of my Visa residencia which is stamp on my Passport as well as my Nie. This policeman first thought i was a Illegal immigrant i talk with a strong Caribbean accent in Spanish and sometimes they think you are cuban or dominican.  Because of all the documents that the cop needed to check   i was escorted by this cop to la comisaria de la Policia. After almost 35 minutes all my info checks out i was insulted because by just verifying the Nie he could have come to the same conclusion. Then came the traffic violation i said to the cop to just to give me the ticket( Multa) I will pay it right away because i had some meats and chicken on the car and it was going to spoil. This policeman told me it’s not that easy he said to me that is illegal to drive in Spain with a U.S License he said i needed an International Drivers License and that i could only use it for three months. I was lucky i had in my wallet and international License and i show it to him then he said that according to my passport i have been in Spain longer than 3 months so he figure out that i have been driving more than the amount allowed. I told him that Some States Including Florida have agreements for their residents with Spain so they could drive for a year. Once again he said he needed to check that with Guardia Civil so waited. Another 30 minutes pass by and this policeman came back with a list of Regulations from department of Interior Indicating that only the State Of New York and California have those agreements. Man!!!!! I am telling you this cop wanted to make a point with me!!!! well i told the cop that i was not going to leave my car here so what are my choices he said that i needed to pay the fine leave my license there pay a towing truck to take my car to my house and then get a Spanish license to Drive. So i said fine!!!! while i was calling the towing truck his superior came to me and said that the car needed to stay in the comisaria until a Judge lets me have it back. Now i was furious i said i was going to contact my Lawyer and call the US Consulate for this situation. This person that resulted to be a Sargento said to me that i was driving illegaly and by law only a judge could order the car return to me but not to worry it will be safe there? This all happen between 10:00am-12:00pm i got my spoil grocery went home on a taxi and my lawyer returned my call he said he could pick me up by 2:00pm and go to la comisaria and straight everything out. On the way to la comisaria i talk to the lawyer regarding the info that he told me that my Florida license were good for a year he said that he verify and Florida has not renew their diriving pact in Spain since 2004!!! and that he got old info. Well i said i just want my car back i deal with the license tomorrow. I started mentioning to him how burocratic and stupid are some of this Policeman and specially they always think if you speak Spanish with another accent you must be illegal i said to the Lawyer that i was born in Puerto rico and i am U.S citizen and i have to have some rights. He said to me that if i have a Puerto rico Drivers License i said that yes but is probably expired because i remember i got it in 2000 before i move to Florida he said that is strange usually Puerto rico licenses are good for 9-10 years well i check my wallet Wow!!!!! the license still good the lawyer said to me be thankful to god Puerto rico has an agreement still pending for Puertorican drivers to drive in Spain for a Whole Year!!!!!. Well what can i said save by the bell when i got to la comisaria i showed my Puerto rico License together with the International one everything check out fine!!!! the cop was kind of angry i guess he wanted to make a point with me and Fail. My lawyer was able to talk to the Captain get my car back and cancel the multa. I got my car back and i said to the cop that he was irresponsible because in Marbella half of the population drive without Spanish license so why pick with honest people. Also i pointed out to the captain that it is the first time i get stop fro traffic but is the second time i get stop to show my immigration papers and that something had to be done because i do not want to be harass anymore. He said to me that my car Matricula will be put into a system in order that cheks out with my papers and he gave me his word no more problems. Well sorry for the novela!!! but what a long day just to let Expats now how crazy are cops
here. Also sorry if i made mistakes writing but my head hurts and i had a long day!!!!!!! waisted by cops.

No, don’t worry about the ‘novela’, it looks like great information about having an American driver’s license in Spain that lots of people can/should benefit from. Good on you!

Good luck with the headache and hope tomorrow’s a better one.

Well i am glad my experience could help other expats!!!

But to American Expats if you have any family member or Friend coming to Spain make sure you tell them that they need to get and International Drivers License only this license together with you state license is good to Drive. Also only Carlifornia and New York State licenses are good for a Year together with your international Drivers license. Also as a sign of precaution make sure if you decide to stay driving with your state license for either 3 months or the year that you have in your wallet a copy of you US passport that shows your picture and a copy of your entry stamp they cops are checking for illegal drivers so they say there are too many accidents and deaths due to illegal drivers. Also another pointer most cops in Spain do not know all the 50 States names so they may have you confused with another English country and not the U.S, is always good to carry a copy of you passport and a copy of your stamp of entry. Also for Black or Hispanic American citizens for you is a must carry documentation in andalucia they got a big problem with African and Latin American illegal aliens.

In the U.S you can easily get a International Drivers license do it by internet AAA motor club or go to any of their offices in your cities it takes a couple of minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow, what an ordeal. That clears up a lot of questions I’ve had about driving here. Thanks, though sorry you had to go through all that!

The same things applies for european licenses, with a twist though:
Driving in a spanish registered car with a non spanish license is something illegal to the in general mal-informed police.
This however, is not true. There is an european doowap that tales care of this.

If I can find my “get out of jail free” card, i?ll put a scan of it here.
Keep it with your car papers, and just show to the police. Helped me quite a few times.

@ Rokipatel: you shoulld have told them you had your groceries in the car, “human” touches like that work wonders…

Till later

Vtel I own a Spanish Matricula car???? I could drive it with my Puerto rico License for a Year and then get a Spanish license. You do not need a Spanish license to get a Spanish Car all you need to get a Car is a Nie and a copy of you passport. In regards to the groceries believe me i tried but like i said in my post the policeman wanted to make a case out of me.

Los policia son come meirdas no?

I just looked on the DGT website and US licenses are generally valid for 6 months after you become a resident, it didn’t mention anything about specific states.  Here is the link, check out the bottom of page 10 for non EU citizens and citizens of countries not lucky enough to have a convenio with Spain:

http://www.dgt.es/was6/portal/contenidos/documentos/la_dgt/recursos_humanos_empleo/oposiciones/TEMA_050.pdf

It seems like there is no easy way to get permission to drive in spain after those six months, you’ll have to do it the hard way, getting ripped off at an autoescuela and studying.  If there is another way, please respond to this post and let me know, please!!! I need a spanish driver’s license.

However, just so everybody out there knows, I’ve been regularly driving for about 2 years now with my California license and a AAA international driver’s license.  I’ve been stopped several times and I’ve never had a problem. One cop said that i could only drive legally for the first 6 months, so I was actually driving illegally, but I acted like I knew exactly what I was talking about and told him that the 6 month rule is only valid if I only had the California license, but the international license allows me to drive legally until it expires. The guy had no idea, so he just went along with it and let me go.

Bennett - 21 January 2009 06:48 PM

I just looked on the DGT website and US licenses are generally valid for 6 months after you become a resident, it didn’t mention anything about specific states.  Here is the link, check out the bottom of page 10 for non EU citizens and citizens of countries not lucky enough to have a convenio with Spain:

http://www.dgt.es/was6/portal/contenidos/documentos/la_dgt/recursos_humanos_empleo/oposiciones/TEMA_050.pdf

It seems like there is no easy way to get permission to drive in spain after those six months, you’ll have to do it the hard way, getting ripped off at an autoescuela and studying.  If there is another way, please respond to this post and let me know, please!!! I need a spanish driver’s license.

However, just so everybody out there knows, I’ve been regularly driving for about 2 years now with my California license and a AAA international driver’s license.  I’ve been stopped several times and I’ve never had a problem. One cop said that i could only drive legally for the first 6 months, so I was actually driving illegally, but I acted like I knew exactly what I was talking about and told him that the 6 month rule is only valid if I only had the California license, but the international license allows me to drive legally until it expires. The guy had no idea, so he just went along with it and let me go.

Thanks for the info! If I am already in Madrid, how can I get the international drivers license?

As your outsiide the EU you need to book yourself some lessons and then A Test…

Good Luck

Actually I never thought about that my American driving license is not valid all over the world. I guess this is very overbearing.  :red:
A few years ago when I visited Barcelona I rented a car and I had no problems with my American driving license. Next month I will go to Curacao for two months and then to Sevilla for another four months. I want to rent a car on Curacao as well as in Spain for that period of time in order to be mobile. Can anybody tell me if I need a special driving license in order to drive in both countries?
thx in advance