Should I buy a car in Spain?

Yes – and as soon as possible. You will then have no further worries and life will be much simpler!

I would recommend very strongly that as soon as you decide that Spain is where you will live, you sell any UK-registered vehicle you might own and buy a Spanish-registered car. Surprisingly, it is not be too difficult to sell a UK-registered car but when you do this you will immediately be totally legal. You will own a car with the steering wheel on the appropriate side of the vehicle for driving here. The road tax will not only be paid but it is also amazingly low compared to the UK, and your insurance premiums will drop dramatically.

Buying a car

To buy a car in Spain you need to have an NIE number (fiscal number) and proof that you own or rent property in Spain or you will need to have proof of residencia. Buying is very simple if you leave the legal details to the dealer from whom you buy the vehicle. There are taxes to pay, which should be included in the selling price, and the vehicle needs to be transferred into your name. The dealer will arrange this. He will organise the registration of your vehicle with the local town hall and all you have to do in the future is to pay the annual road tax. This tax is based on the horsepower of the vehicle and the level is set by the local town hall. In most areas of the Costa del Sol it is low – very low compared to the UK. The other benefit is that the tax can be paid by direct debit so basically you can forget about it. There are many people who have not paid this tax every year since evidence of payment does not have to be shown on the windscreen. This is false economy since you will have to pay if you ever sell or scrap the car. Not only will you have to pay but you may also have to pay interest charges as well and a fine for non-payment.

The one very real benefit to buying a car locally is that you will probably pay a much lower insurance premium. Car insurance in Spain remains among the cheapest in Europe. We drive a mainstream super-mini and a fully comprehensive insurance policy costs about one third of the premium we would now be paying in London. Our insurance was organised through a major telephone-based insurance company whose logo involves a red telephone bouncing across the TV screen. I will not give them a free commercial by mentioning their name but they are good. More about this in the section on the cost of living.

The other amazing point about Spanish car insurance policies is that they include roadside assistance should your car break down. In the UK such insurance has to be paid for separately through the various well-known and long-established companies who offer this service. This can cost quite a lot of money but when you deduct the cost of this additional policy from your Spanish car policy you realise just how cheap car insurance is here.

So, my advice is that as soon as possible you should buy a Spanish-registered car.