Questions, answered properly

Your licence. Spain looks at which authority issued the card in your hand. A German citizen holding a Californian licence is on the US route; an American citizen holding an Irish licence is on the EU route. Passports are irrelevant to this question, which surprises almost everyone.

All EU and EEA countries, plus the roughly thirty non-EU countries Spain holds a bilateral agreement with — including the United Kingdom (since 2023), Switzerland, Andorra, Monaco, most of Latin America, Japan, South Korea, Ukraine, Türkiye, Morocco, Algeria, Serbia, North Macedonia, Bosnia and the Philippines. The list moves; the checker above reflects the position we last verified, and we confirm your case individually before you pay.

Not by exchange, no. Spain has no bilateral agreement in force with the United States, at federal or state level, so nobody can convert a US licence into a Spanish one. What does exist is the Spanish licence itself: a theory exam you can sit in English and a practical. For someone who has driven for twenty years, that's typically a few weeks of app practice and a handful of lessons — not learning to drive again. We don't sell that route here, so we'll simply tell you.

A non-EU licence: six months from the date you become a legal resident — after that it has no validity in Spain, whatever the card says. An EU/EEA licence: until it expires; if it carries no expiry date, Spain requires exchange two years after you register as resident. Residency is a question of where your life is, not only of paperwork.

Stop driving, and tell us the dates honestly. Missing the six-month driving window doesn't necessarily cost you the exchange itself — agreement countries generally have a longer window to file. Driving past your window is treated as driving without a licence: fines from around €200, and an insurer with grounds to dispute a claim.

No. An IDP is a translation of the licence you already hold — useful for the first months and for hire cars, but it creates no entitlement, no extension and no exchange right. It is the single most expensive misunderstanding among people arriving from outside the EU.

Often, yes — it's one of the most common late-stage rejections. If your Irish licence was itself an exchange of an Australian one, the DGT can trace that and decline to exchange onward. The rule varies by agreement, which is exactly what our check exists to catch before you've waited months.

A short aptitude check at an authorised Centro de Reconocimiento de Conductores: eyesight, hearing, reaction time and a coordination task. About twenty minutes, typically €40–60 paid at the centre, and the centre files the result directly with the DGT. Most people pass without thinking about it; glasses and hearing aids are normally fine, though they may be noted on the licence. The verdict is a doctor's, not ours.

Usually not. Most bilateral agreements cover cars and motorcycles only, so lorry, bus and trailer entitlements have to be obtained in Spain. EU licences are the exception: professional categories generally carry across, subject to Spain's shorter medical validity periods for them.

No. You surrender it at the appointment and Spain returns it to the issuing authority — that's the law, not our choice. You leave with a temporary permit (autorización temporal) and drive on it until the Spanish card arrives. If you move back later, you exchange in the other direction; the entitlement lives in one place at a time.

Often not — many agreement-country licences, including UK ones, are accepted without one. Where the DGT does require one, only a traductor jurado registered with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will do, and we tell you before you pay anything extra rather than after.

The DGT's fee for the exchange, currently €28.87. It goes to the state, not to us, and we never mark it up. We prepare it, pay it and give you the receipt to take to your appointment.

Your part is about five minutes plus one appointment. Ours depends on slot availability at your Jefatura — typically a few weeks — and the new card usually arrives by post within about six weeks of the appointment. You drive on the temporary permit throughout. We tell you honestly where you are rather than inventing a date.

If we confirmed you were eligible and the DGT refuses on eligibility grounds, you get our fee back in full, plus anything we advanced for the tasa. It doesn't cover facts you gave us that turn out to be wrong, or an appointment you didn't attend — the guarantee page spells it out.

Hola Money SL, a private Spanish company — CIF B26671347, registered at Calle Granada 7, 04820 Vélez-Rubio, Almería, España. We prepare paperwork and book appointments. We are not a government body and not affiliated with one.