Authority responsible for the information
Ministry of the Interior
Directorate-General for Traffic
Last update: 01-04-2026
Registering a vehicle coming from the EU in Spain
Content
What you need to know
If you are a citizen of the European Union and you are just passing through our country, then you do not need to take any particular steps to be able drive your vehicle.
However, if you are a resident in our country, you will have to register your foreign-registered vehicle in Spain. Registering it is mandatory whenever the owner of the vehicle is a national resident. You have a period of one month from when you become a resident to re-register your vehicle with Spanish plates.
A citizen who would like to transfer their usual vehicle from another country must follow the 3 steps below for re-registration:
- Go to an ITV (vehicle readworthiness test) station with the vehicle and the documentation from the country of origin. The ITV station will physically verify both the vehicle and the documentation, and if everything is correct, it will generate the corresponding ITV technical sheet of the vehicle into the Spanish format.
- Pay the taxes related to registration of the vehicle and thereby obtain the corresponding receipts of payment: Road Tax with the municipality where you live and Registration Tax with the National Tax Office (AEAT), except in the case of trailers.
- Apply to the Directorate-General for Traffic (DGT) the documentation obtained in the preceding steps, together with the registration application and your identity and residence documents. After reviewing all these documents, the DGT will then register the vehicle and deliver the vehicle registration certificate.
If for any reason you do not have time to complete the procedure for registering your vehicle within the one-month deadline, you can apply to the DGT for the temporary registration of your vehicle. With this procedure you will receive green temporary registration plates with which you’ll be able to drive your vehicle for 2 months (extendable) while you complete the proper registration process.
How to register a foreign vehicle
You must take your vehicle to an ITV station for a physical inspection. You must take the following documentation to the ITV station:
- the vehicle registration certificate from the country of origin,
- Certificate of Conformity (CoC),
- purchase agreement or invoice if you are not the owner of the vehicle recorded in the vehicle registration certificate.
The ITV station will issue and give you the vehicle’s ITV Card in Spanish format.
If the vehicle was not under the current year’s ITV, it must pass the corresponding technical inspection.
The citizen must declare and pay the taxes related to registration of the vehicle:
- Receipt of payment / exemption from / non subject of the Registration Tax payable to the National Tax Office (AEAT), except in the case of trailers.
- Receipt of payment or exemption from the Road Tax payable to the municipality where you live. This tax is linked to the power of the vehicle and is paid once a year. Consult your local government to find out how to pay it and the amount.
It is important that you keep your receipt of payment of the taxes.
You can register your vehicle online in the DGT’s electronic register or in person by delivering all the documents to any vehicle registration authority (of the DGT) . In this latter case, you will have to request an appointment in advance. This procedure requires the payment of a fee, which will depend on the type of vehicle you want to register.
You can pay the fee online or at our offices by credit card. You cannot pay in cash.
To complete this procedure, you must provide the following documents:
- Registration application filled out in the official form .
- Identity document of the vehicle’s owner: an official document that proves your identity and address (DNI [National Identity Document], Spanish driver’s licence, residence card, passport plus foreign resident identification number [NIE]).
- The vehicle’s ITV Card issued by an ITV station.
- The vehicle’s original documentation from the country of origin.
- Receipt of having paid the applicable taxes.
- Proof of the tax address of the vehicle.
- If the vehicle was purchased, the invoice or contract of sale.
- Payment number or receipt of having paid fee number 1.1 (EUR 99.77) for 2022, applicable to any type of vehicle except for mopeds, for which the fee number is 1.2 (EUR 27.85) for 2022. You can pay at our offices using a credit card but you cannot pay in cash.
If everything is correct, the DGT registers the vehicle, assigns it a registration number and provides you with a vehicle registration certificate.
Once the procedure has been completed, you must go to a specialised shop to buy the registration plates and install them on the vehicle.
You can pay the fee online or at our offices by credit card. You cannot pay in cash.
Temporary registration: green plates
If, due to personal circumstances, you do not have time to complete the procedure for registering your vehicle within the one-month deadline, you can apply to the DGT for the temporary registration of your vehicle.
As a result of this procedure, you will obtain green temporary registration plates, with which you will be able to drive your vehicle for 2 months (extendable) while you complete the proper registration process.
You can temporarily register your vehicle with green plates online in the DGT’s electronic register or in person by delivering all the documents to any vehicle registration authority (of the DGT). In this latter case, you will have to request an appointment in advance. This procedure requires the payment of a fee, which will depend on the type of vehicle you want to register.
To complete this procedure, you must provide the following documents:
- Registration application filled out in the official form.
- Identity document of the vehicle’s owner: an official document that proves your identity and address (DNI [National Identity Document], Spanish driver’s licence, residence card, passport plus foreign resident identification number [NIE]). This is not necessary if you do this through the register.
- Payment number or receipt of having paid fee number 1.4 (EUR 20.61) for 2022. You can pay at our offices using a credit card but you cannot pay in cash.
- The complete file for the ordinary registration you are carrying out.
Once the procedure has been completed, you must go to a specialist shop to buy the green registration plates and install them on the vehicle. You will then be able to drive the vehicle while you complete the permanent registration process.
Legal and/or technical references
