The British embassy gives latest update on driving licence negotiations

As many people will be aware, having a UK driving licence if you are a resident in Spain, including the Canary Islands, means that legally you cannot drive until you have changed, which since the Brexit transition period and various grace periods, now means you have to take a Spanish driving test.

As we have reported before, the British Embassy has confirmed that the main body of an agreement has been made so that licences can be exchanged again without taking a test, but the annexes have to be finalised before they can be published in the BOE and take effect.

However, the only question everyone is asking is… WHEN?

Brits in Spain, the official embassy Facebook page, have published this update today to keep those of you it affects in the picture:

“Many of you have told us you were worried by the lack of an update over the last two weeks. Please be assured that work continues intensively between the British and Spanish authorities, even when we don’t post. And, of course, the events of last week overtook all of our communications.”

“We recognise that the negotiations are taking longer than we anticipated and longer than either you or we want. We know that, above all else, you want to know when you will be able to drive.”

“We are genuinely making progress on resolving the outstanding points but, for reasons we’ve explained before, we cannot be definitive about the timescale. So, as we have always said, if it is imperative that you drive, our advice remains to consider taking a test, though we recognise that this can take some time.”

“We also know you would like more detail on what the hold-up is, but the outstanding issues are complex and we cannot comment on all the detail.”

“We know that this is frustrating to hear and we don’t underestimate the huge impact this is having on those of you affected. As soon as we are able to provide a further update we will, but we are afraid that we cannot respond to every individual message that comes in. However, as soon as we have new information, we will make it public.”