International Driver's License for Spain

Expense and hassle? It's fifteen bucks and a fifth teen minute stop at AAA.

KW,

Here is what RS has to say about the International Driver's Permit:https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/rental-car-requirements

The rental car agency may not ask for it, but if you're stopped by the police, you may be fined if you don't have one.

Have a wonderful trip!

Buy the IDP. You need one for Spain. On our last trip to Spain we were stopped. It was a routine stop; two police officiers who spoke no English. The IDP allowed them to look at it and let us pass. On another occasion in Italy, we were stopped in a road block, armed police, again little English. We were glad we had the appropriate documentation.

You are spending good money so why risk it for a few dollars and a little time.

It is the law in Spain. The rental places don't care if you have one, but the police will if you are stopped or in an accident. And don't you want them to be easily able to tell that your license is valid?

As well , if you do have an accident that results in property damage and/or personal injury , and do not have an I DP , there is a very likely chance that your insurance underwriter will refuse to honor a claim on the grounds that you are not a properly licensed driver .

There is almost no expense and hassle. Walk into AAA with your license, pay $20 and walk out 10 minutes later with a document that is legally required and may save you a lot of expense and police hassle if you get stopped or in an accident.

Thank you everyone for your replies. I will definitely get the license.

As to ease of getting the license, it is if you live in a city near a AAA office! For me, it's a two-hour drive to NYC to get it, but I will do it of course. I called the AAA office in Oneonta N.Y. because I wanted to send away for the license and I wanted to double-check that I could do it through that location. The woman I spoke to said I should do it in person, and the best office was in NYC.

The woman in Oneonta may have not known what she was talking about.

Any office should be able to handle it.

Have a look at this page of the NY AAA http://www.ny.aaa.com/Travel/Destinations/International-Travel/International-Driving-Permit.aspx

where it says that any office can handle it. Maybe she didn't know how to do it so thought she would send you downstate.

Maybe you could try Cooperstown or Utica?

Here's what it says on the website for Oneonta:

Oneonta AAA Location 195 Oneida Street

General Phone Number: 1-800-222-7448 Insurance Phone Number:
1-855-374-1821

Office Hours Monday-Friday: 9:00am - 5:00pm Saturday: Closed (except
for Hertz Rentals open 9am - 12pm) Sunday: Closed Branch Services
Travel Agency Services TripTiks, Tourbooks, Maps AAA Visa Member
Rewards Card DMV Vision Testing Hertz Local Edition American Express
Travelers Cheques Visa TravelMoney Cards & Foreign Currency American
Express Gift Cards Discounted Theme Park Tickets AAA Travel Store
International Driving Permit Passport Photos and more!

see what it says just before Passport Photos and more!

Maybe call them again and speak to somebody different?

That is so nice of you to look into the Oneonta office! Thank You! I could go there, but it's also a two-hour drive for me, so I might as well head south to NYC where I can at least visit my niece too and take in a museum while I'm at it.
It was really good to ask this question on the forum, because I got such excellent feedback. And it was different from the opinions of my friends, who said it was no big deal to forego the international permit! So this is when the internet (and being connected to so many people) is really valuable. Thanks everyone!

That is so nice of you to look into the Oneonta office! Thank You! I could go there, but it's also a two-hour drive for me, so I might as well head south to NYC where I can at least visit my niece too and take in a museum while I'm at it.
It was really good to ask this question on the forum, because I got such excellent feedback. And it was different from the opinions of my friends, who said it was no big deal to forego the international permit! So this is when the internet (and being connected to so many people) is really valuable. Thanks everyone!

If ,as I perceive , you are in upstate New York , you can trim your trip . There is an AAA office on Brook Street in Scarsdale , New York , 45 minutes north of Manhattan . No need to drive into midtown , plenty of street parking , in a quiet suburb . I get mine there every year , I live in White Plains .

Great suggestion! I may do that. Thanks!

I have read Rick Steves comments about IDPs and I disagree. If you are stopped for any reason and don't have one you are totally at the mercy of the cop. In most cases it starts with a hefty on the spot cash fine for not having one. Then they decide whether or not to impound your car since you are not licensed to drive it. In the event of an accident the insurance company has the ability to void your insurance since you are not a licensed driver. To quote a famous Clint Eastwood movie line, the simple question is, "How lucky do you feel, punk?"

The oft cited bit about they don't care at the rental car desk is true for many rental desks. The rental people make their money renting you a car. 1) They are not your friend; 2) They will not be in the driver's seat if and when the trouble starts; 3) They don't care about the costs of retrieving an impounded car or uninsured damage because they have you by the credit card.

Hopefully, going to a AAA office and forking over $15 and two passport pictures is not too much "expense and hassle".

To Irv's list about car rental agencies, I'll add:

4) It is not their job to enforce the law, or even to know all the laws (such as drivers from which countries do or do not need IDP's) - they are not the police.

I'll also add that even though lots of people report being able to rent a car in Italy without showing an IDP at the car rental counter, the Hertz in downtown Palermo wanted to see the IDP as well as the license. Of course, since I had followed the rules rather than Rick's (bad) advice, I had mine ready.

Just got my IDP for my Spain trip. The IDP application requires a valid driver's license and no tests. So why do countries like Spain require an IDP in addition to just a driver's license?

How many police or guardia civil officers in Spain or police officers in whatever country do you think read and fully understand English?

@Neil.... more than you think... don't patronize non English native speakers :)) Not going to be me, as a Catalan, the one defending the ominous Spanish Guardia Civil -too many times in History we've had armed clashes with them-, yet this is a police body with high standards and all their officers (for the past decades anyway!) do learn languages, including English, during their studies at the Academy: http://www.elrincondelpolicia.com/guardia-civil/material-de-preparaci%C3%B3n/temario-guardia-civil-2016/

@staynsavor... it has to do indeed with language (English is spoken as an official language only in a few countries around the World) also with standards (only those countries that adhere to certain international driving standards can issue IDPs which are then recognized in all the other countries that recognize those same standards) and thirdly due to the validity of the document in itself. US driving licenses are not valid legal documents in most countries, certainly not in Europe, including Spain, not even for ID purposes. US driving licenses are as valid over here as your Costco card :))

The only documents considered "official" -with legal validity that is- in Europe are: National ID cards (which you don't use in the US), passports, IDPs and if you're an EU resident also driving licenses issued in any of the EU countries -which were "harmonized" (EU jargon for 'standarized') a few years ago. So your IDP is, in fact, backing up that you're recognized as having a driving license in your country that guarantees your driving skills are up to the same standards than those of the country you're visiting. Don't you go now proving them wrong, huh? LOL!!!

PS: If someone is stung by my comments, note that it works both ways, my driving license also requires an IDP when driving in certain countries outside Europe. In all, it has to do with the bilateral agreements (or lack of them!) among the different countries.

Enric, please understand that forty years of visiting for several weeks a year a great deal of Spain and talking to many police and Guardia in many a bar a great many do not have the understanding you are suggesting.

That's why I included the clause "in the last decades anyway"... because older policemen have not necessarily had to take all the exams they're taking these days :))

Why would you expect a policeman:
A) To be required to learn English (there are 190+ countries in the world, most with their own language)?
B) To know know the driving licence design (how to tell a real licence from a fake) and laws of one country (USA) over the other 190+. There is no way anyone can learn the laws of all 190+ countries?
C) To accept as valid a document issued in another country, when that country has not agreed to accept the same document from your own country?
To do so would be pure arrogance.

The International Drivers Permit is a certified proof of validity and translation of your licence without which your licence is a legally worthless piece of plastic.
The other solution is for both countries to agree to produce licences to the same standard (identical design, identical standards for vehicle groups, etc.), so all licences are identical regardless of language. This is what is done within the EU.

Enric, thanks for the clarification. I was going to carry only my driver's license when walking the streets. Now I have to find room for that big IDP.

So your IDP is, in fact, backing up that you're recognized as having a driving license in your country that guarantees your driving skills are up to the same standards than those of the country you're visiting.

In the US, having a driver's license has limited guarantee (if any) about the owner's driving skills. In my state, frequent DUI offenders seldom get their licenses suspended. Seniors with deteriorating sight and mind are not retested, often result in accidents.

Don't you go now proving them wrong, huh?

Coming from a City notorious for its bad drivers, I'll prove something :-)

I would like to point out that the IDP and your home country license is necessary for legally driving here... but for ID purposes in other scenarios, say you're caught in a brawl, or in the middle of a Police raid, or in a serious incident like an anti-terrorist alert, or more plainly, to register in your hotel or to reserve a visit to any of the Parliaments or the Congress for example, for that the IDP is worthless, only passport/National ID cards are legally valid. Which means that technically speaking you ought to carry your passport with you at all times. So you need a bigger wallet :))

Btw. the discussion about the need to carry legal ID at all times while over here has popped up many times in the forum, and there are always those that choose to argue about it and prefer to follow hearsay and ignore the laws, so I won't enter into any more arguments, to each his own.

In the US, having a driver's license has limited guarantee (if any) about the owner's driving skills. In my state, frequent DUI offenders seldom get their licenses suspended. Seniors with deteriorating sight and mind are not retested, often result in accidents.

Over here we have a point-based system by which you start with 15 and points are subtracted for each offense until it reaches 0, when your license is suspended. Some offenses are worth 2 points, some 6, etc and some lead to a straight suspension. This system is homogenized across the UE, except for the Brits of course, as always they swim against the flow, in the UK the system works the other way around (what else!)... you start clean with zero points and go up to 12 to be suspended. As per seniors, I'm afraid we have the same issue... There has been talk about reducing the age until which you can drive, but, for now there isn't a limit. When you reach 65 your periodic aptitude tests for driving are every 5 years, but those are sort of a joke.... so unless you're really inept you're bound to have it renewed.

I was going to carry only my driver's license when walking the streets. Now I have to find room for that big IDP.

staynsavor, I back up what Enric says, that would be a waste of time.
The only legal ID (which you need to check into a hotel, and the police will ask to see in the very unlikely event that they stop you in the street and ask for ID), is a Passport, or, for EU/EEA citizens only, their national Identity Cards.
The difference is that your passport shows you are legally in the country (with the stamp saying when you arrived), a licence does not prove that.
The law says you have to carry your passport when walking the streets.

In my state, frequent DUI offenders seldom get their licenses suspended. Seniors with deteriorating sight and mind are not retested, often result in accidents.

What state do you live in?? In Illinois, older drivers (over 75, I think) are given driving tests every year in order to keep their licenses. And people with DUIs and other serious traffic offenses do, indeed, have their licenses suspended or revoked.

What state do you live in?? In Illinois, older drivers (over 75, I think) are given driving tests every year in order to keep their licenses.

Illinois and NH are the only two states that require road test for the seniors' license renewal.

http://www.ghsa.org/html/stateinfo/laws/olderdriver_laws.html