So your Spanish driving licence is up for renewal?

Hopefully this will help.

I recently had a letter from the dgt informing me that my Spanish driving licence will expire an that I had to renew it.

Not having done this I enquired about how.

So to renew your driving licence in Spain is fairly simple; at least where we live near Torrevieja.

You have to go to a Centros de reconocimiento de conductors where they will do everything for you. Literally everything. Just call them to make an appointment and turn up with your old licence and the appropriate fee.

There are several centres close to Torrevieja. I went to the one in Calle Caballero ed Rodas, 38 on the second floor. To find your local centre try here

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Centros de reconocimiento de conductors

For me I let them do the application but you can just get them to carry out the tests etc and you can send the application off yourself saving some money but why bother.

The process

Present your old licence to the receptionist and confirm your address and telephone number.

Confirm you want them to process all the paperwork for you

You will be asked to sign a digital signature reader and then a small compliance form

Then you will need to get your picture taken which is done to the side of the reception desk

After the above you will have to wait until you are called for the start of the medical/aptitude test.

1st test is the eye test. A very simple test which requires you to read letters from a lighted display similar to your normal eye test at the opticians but much simpler. Read the letters with both eyes open then you have to cover each eye separately reading the letters out. After that you are asked to recognise the coloured lights. (I am red and green colour blind and still recognised the red and green lights!) Finally you will be required to watch a very bright light and then read the letters again. This is a bit difficult but is similar to being blinded by a full beam while driving....done...on to the next test in a different room. You may have to wait a short while in between each.

2nd test is the aptitude test. I love computer games so this was an easy one for me! In front of you will see a box with buttons and handles this will be used in the tests. There are 3 tests in this part.

First you will be asked to grasp 2 handles and while watching 2 thick lines moving on the left and right of a screen you have to rotate the handles to keep the 2 circles within the lines as they move. This is not easy as you will need to adjust the handles independently of each other as the lines move at different paces. See pic 1.

The second shows a screen with an diagonal black line on a screen. Then you will be shown a series of white circles that appear on the screen. Press the left button if the circle is on the left of the line and press the right button if they are on the right side of the line. If the circle intersects the black diagonal you need to press the middle button...easy. However, then the line is removed and you have to repeat the test but more rapidly and without the line this means you have to guess! So pay attention to the line! See pic 2

Third you will see the screen with a horizontal line running through the centre of the screen. On the right side you will see a large white box which overlaps the line leaving just a small section of the line to the right side (marked "X") of the white box. The idea here is to watch a dot travel across the line and disappear behind the white box. You have to estimate when the dot would appear to the right of the white box and press a button. The problem here is that the dot goes behind the white box and will never reappear so you literally have to guess (make your best estimate) when it would reappear based on the speed of the dot prior to going behind the white box. I estimated the width of the box on the line and counted from that point to the point where the dot disappeared. Then restarted my count and pressed the button when the same amount of time passed. Seemed to work for me! See pic 3

3rd Test was with a doctor who asked about my health and then tested my blood pressure. Then that was it. Back to the waiting room.

Finally the receptionist called my name again and after paying €64 I was presented with my old driving licence with a temporary cover licence and told my new licence would arrive in the post soon but if it did not arrive within 2 months I needed to return to the centre or call to find out what had happened.

Please note that this is exactly what happened for me and this may not be the same for you but will give you an idea. I am just turning 50 and have had my Spanish licence a while. My old licence is a paper one. Not sure if this would have any relevance but its said so you can make comparisons.

The price included all the tests as required and the licence renewal fee as well as the centres fee for processing the application and sending it off to the dgt.

If you have comments or additions to this please feel free to do so.

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