Britons in Italy can now drive but still waiting in Spain

No move expected in Madrid until next year

Many Britons still can not drive in Spain | Photo: Majorca Daily Bulletin reporter

Humphrey CarterPalma23/12/2022 12:06

While Spain continues to put the brakes on a new agreements which will allow British residents to exchange their driving licences for a Spanish one and get back on the road after having been parked up for half of the year, the British and Italian governments reached a deal today.

The British Ambassador to Spain, Hugh Elliott, said this week that negotiations with the Spanish are drawing to a close and a deal is just a matter of weeks away.

However, in Italy, British residents have been given the all clear.
Edward Llewellyn, the British Ambassador to Italy and Inigo Lambertini, the Italian Ambassador to the UK, met this morning to sign the agreement at the Italian Foreign Ministry in Rome.

The agreement will allow holders of driving licences issued in the United Kingdom, Crown Dependencies and Gibraltar, who live in Italy, to apply to exchange their driving licence for an Italian one.

The agreement also makes provision for exchange of expired licences (up to a period of 5 years/for up to 5 years after their date of expiry) as well as lost and stolen licences, subject to domestic procedures.