Hi Rick,
I’ll try to answer best I can. Your license will be legal for up to 1 year with the international driving permit. Under spanish law, you’re required to get a EU license after 6 months (impossible without residency permit). Spanish plates are not issued without a residency permit, as I’m told…
Your tourist visa will be valid for 90 days after entry and you are not allowed to remain in an EU country for more than 90/180 days, but in my case was never enforced. If you are out of status, I was advised by my attorney and the office of extranjeros to stay out of Germany and France. Country hopping is what some posters seem to do, but make sure it’s to a non-schengen country. Right now there is some type of amnesty for those out of status for 3 years or longer, but not really sure of all the paperwork. You will need a “Numero de identification extranjero” or NIE to transact most rental transactions, but a passport will suffice for opening a bank account, etc. STAY AWAY FROM TELEFONICA if possible!!! The telefonica rage is true!
If possible, better to try to get some sort of visa like a student or family reunification. Because of the relationship between Bush and Zapatero and that whole trauma-drauma of Zapatero calling Kerry to prematurely congragulate him on his win in 2004, and the general bad blood between these two leaders, combined with the CIA’s use of spanish airspace to illegally render a Canadian Citizen a couple of years back, the non-lucrative visas to American’s are not given out like they used to. There is also a bit of anti-immigrant flavor here, but nothing like what compares in the states towards the latin americans.
