How long can I drive in Spain on my Uk licence?

I think 45 weeks (in a calendar year) will bust your GV allowance of 6 months by a big margin! You will become a tax resident after cumulative 183 days in any calendar year. Then your driving licence will have to be exchanged within 6 months. However the Spanish one is fully legal in the UK until expiry, or you can swap back to UK one if you are no longer a Spanish resident. Do not see your GV as a do what you want residency. It has limitation of duration of stay etc.

Yes, if you stay over 6 months you will need to swap it for a Spanish licence (and your UK one is retained and destroyed). If you don't do it within 6 months you will have to stop driving until you do it (in other words 6 months is the leeway you are given). You have to do a simple medical and a few reaction tests at a medical centre but you don't have to take a test, just get an appointment at Trafico and swap it.

And indeed over 183 days in Spain makes you taxable here, even under a GV.

Hi - thanks for the advice, I was aware of the tax implications but I guess that’s the price for living in such a lovely place! My next question is around problems driving in UK using a Spanish driving licence - any thoughts? It’s possible we will ultimately be in UK for more than 6 months- thanks

Between the ages of 45 and 70, you can drive on any EU licence in the UK for as long as you want.

After 70, you can only drive for 12 months in the UK unless you are a UK resident!

Interesting reply, I understood that you could drive in the UK on an EU licence until the EU licence expired, not until you are 70. Also can you provide the provenance for the statement:- "After 70, you can only drive for 12 months in the UK unless you are a UK resident!" I ask as I am over 70 with a Spanish licence converted from a UK one, and your statement contradicts this :-

"The phrase 'Until you are 70 or have lived in GB for three years, whichever is longer', means that you can drive in the UK any vehicle covered by the categories shown on your valid EU/EEA licence until you are 70. The three-year element relates to someone who came to live in the UK at say the age of 68, they could drive until they were 71 on their EU licence because it is the longer of the two periods i.e. 70 or for three years, whichever is longer."

There are other contradictions out there so it is not as cut and dried as you suggest, perhaps. 

Useful gov.uk  

https://www.gov.uk/driving-nongb-licence

Wow! We really will have to decide where we call home!