Brexit / residency / English car

Hi

I have just returned from a 6 month stay in La Herradura driving in my U.K. plated car.

As we are still in transition period our entitlements remain the same being;

You are allowed to drive U.K. car up to 6 months.

And you have until end of year (but do it as soon as you can) to sort out your residency card if planning to stay in Spain for more than 6 months as this is considered being your permanent address where you will be also liable to pay Spanish tax (and possibly taxed on any U.K. assets).

This is why I only stay in Spain for just under 6 months so I remain a UK resident and pay U.K. tax. I do enrol on the local ‘Padron’ at the ayuntamiento so that they receive money from the junta!

You may be wise to visit www.gov.uk and read their advice on staying in Spain for different time scales all info is there!

Good luck!

PS guardia Civil in La Herradura are more friendly

Hi Adam not sure if you have managed to get the answers you need yet but I can answer them all.  If you plan to stay in Spain for more than 90 days you need to apply for residency.  At the moment all appointments are on hold until after the lockdown so nothing you can do about that yet.  As you have been here for less than that time you are not here illegally.    If you are applying for residency you should do the car registration at the same time and within 30 days to avoid registration taxes. Have you found a company yet to help you with both of these? 

Hi and thank you for your response, my plan was not to be a resident here I just want to spend a couple of months at a time and fly to and from so I brought one of my cars over, on the day I was pulled I was told I had to be a resident now due to Brexit and that I had 4 weeks to change plates on my car but reading your reply am I within my right to challenge this? Obviously I am stuck out here past the 90 days at the moment as I have the dog with me also and I cant get him home but surenly exceptions will be made during this time? Thank you for any advice 

Hi have a read of this article I will send by message because it answers your questions about how long a car can be kept in Spain. You do not have to be resident to import the car and you still have time to do that.  You need to be careful with the police though because once they make a physical record of a car in Spain they will keep note.  If you can prove that you have an address here and when the car entered Spain and that you are a non resident you shouldn’t have any more problems.  If you want to transfer the car onto spanish plates you can show the police the documents to show that you have started the process.