Hi,
My boss, a US citizen has purchased a car from a friend of his in Spain. He travels there regularly, and wants to be able to have a can to drive around the country. However, his friend is concerned as he does not think my boss will be able to do this as a US citizen. Can anyone attest to having done this before? Or, does anyone know if an Internatonal Driving Permit will suffice for this? Thanks.
He will need the IDP in addition to his required US driver's license for driving any vehicle. But driving is not the problem. The problem is a license plate for the car and insurance. I think your boss needs a legal, Spanish address in order to register the vehicle. That is the issue. Now if the friend puts the car in his name and carries the insurance, then he can drive where ever he wants.
I'm a U.S. citizen who studied and passed the driver examination in France, which gave me a license good for 15 years. If your boss does the same in Spain, I'm not sure what the problem would be.
I'm a U.S. citizen who studied and passed the driver examination in
France, which gave me a license good for 15 years. If your boss does
the same in Spain, I'm not sure what the problem would be.
As Frank said, the problem isn't the drivers license. The boss just needs a valid DL - his US license is fine with an IDP.
The problem is that the boss needs a Spanish place of residence in order to legally register and insure the car. With the info at hand, it appears he does not have a local residence.
I concur, he needs an address to register the car and for insurance (which must be from a Spanish insurer). He will also periodically need to get the car serviced, and have a car safety test (Inspección Técnica de Vehículos, see here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_inspection#Spain ).
Where will he store the car when he is not is Spain? Is this an address he can use for correspondence for the registration and insurance? It may be he needs to be a registered resident at that address, which would not be possible without a residence visa.
