Vehicle relocation UK to Spain
Cars, motorbikes, vintage

How a vehicle move fits with your household move

A car or motorcycle can travel at the same time as the household goods or separately. Which is better depends on the crossing and the vehicle. Either way, it travels with a specialist vehicle-transport partner that we book and coordinate, never in the removals lorry, and its collection and delivery are timed so the car is not sitting at one end while you are at the other.

Do not load household goods into the car. They need to be on the household inventory for the customs relief claim and covered by the goods-in-transit insurance, and neither applies to a box in a car boot.

From UK driveway to Spanish plates, step by step

1. You send the make, model and registration, confirm whether the car runs, and tell us whether it is a classic or of particular value.
2. We book the transport: an enclosed transporter for classics and high-value cars, or a shared car transporter otherwise.
3. Before it leaves, you tell DVLA that the vehicle is being permanently exported, using the V5C, and keep the paperwork.
4. On arrival, the import is declared to Spanish customs. If you are moving your residence, the car can usually come in under the transfer-of-residence relief.
5. You claim exemption from the Spanish registration tax (IEDMT) through the Agencia Tributaria using modelo 05.
6. The car passes a Spanish ITV inspection. UK cars normally need their headlights adapted for driving on the right.
7. You register it with the DGT (matriculación), which needs the certificate of conformity, the ITV report, the customs and tax documents and proof of residence. Spanish plates follow, and the annual road tax is then paid to your ayuntamiento.

What changes a vehicle quote

The size and value of the vehicle, open or enclosed transport, whether it runs, door-to-door delivery or a depot hand-over, and any sea leg to the islands all affect the figure. Because the transport partner sets part of that price, it is quoted alongside your household move rather than inside it, so you can see each part.

Importing is not always the right answer. For an older or low-value car, the inspection, adaptation and registration steps can outweigh what the car is worth, and selling in the UK and buying in Spain may make more sense. We will tell you if your survey points that way.

Spain-specific considerations

Once you are resident, the DGT gives you a limited period to put the car on Spanish plates, and you should check the current rule on the DGT's page on bringing a vehicle from abroad. The registration-tax exemption has its own conditions, set out by the Agencia Tributaria.

A UK-plated car has no DGT environmental label, which matters in the growing number of Spanish cities with a low-emission zone (ZBE). Several cities run their own registration for foreign vehicles; until the car is registered there, or carries Spanish plates and a label, it may be refused entry. Your UK licence also has to be exchanged for a Spanish one within the period the UK–Spain agreement allows after you become resident.

Classic cars can qualify for vehículo histórico status, which has its own registration and inspection regime. Our guide to bringing your car from the UK to Spain goes through the whole sequence and the order to do it in.