He said: “negotiations are progressing, but they haven’t come to fruition yet. I hope that in the next few weeks we will solve the remaining problems. This is also what our ministers discussed last Saturday. They expressed a willingness to conclude the negotiations, which have taken longer than we would have wished. It is a very unfortunate situation, with thousands of British people living in Spain currently unable to drive. Spain is the only EU country where this is the case. That is why we want it to be resolved as soon as possible. We appreciate the goodwill.
“It is an active negotiation and I am not going to go into details. There has been a process of negotiation with all EU countries. What we are asking for is for British residents to be able to exchange their driving licence for a Spanish one without having to take a new test. Spaniards or other Europeans in the UK can already do that. But here there is a group of thousands of British people who cannot do it. Spain has asked to add to this agreement the exchange of data so that it can have information on tourists, British visitors who come here, to ensure road safety and to be able to send, for example, fines in the event of an offence. It is a complex issue because of the data processing.
“This is a technical issue and we’ve almost got it resolved. We are going to get it. It’s an important issue for the British here and for this embassy,” the Ambassador told El Periódico
5 comments
To be able to write a comment, you have to be registered and logged in
BrisketI don't know how much of that it true or not, but I do know this "issue" has been stuffed with misinformation and exaggeration from the beginning. And it's not limited to Brits. The fact remains that there's no "ban" on British driving licences and never has been, and all British permanent resident "victims" of this imaginary atrocity could always go get a Spanish driving licence at any time. Like anyone else. And please provide a list of countries that allow permanent residents to legally drive on any old driving licence from any old country. I bet it's pretty short. Like zero, perhaps?
I saw a pigeon in my garden today..
Countries allowing exchange of British Driving licence to Local licence: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden. Countries not allowing exchange of British Driving licence to Local licence: Spain.
In the mean time, you all could just go get a licence. Like everybody else.
Whats the most useful? A) A chocolate teapot B) A bicycle for a fish, or C) Hugh Elliot Answers on a postcard please.