2026 guide for non-residents and new residents

Buying or Registering a Car in Spain as a Foreigner in 2026

What Tráfico asks a foreign buyer, the 30-day transfer, the tax region by region, and what to do with a car on foreign plates.

30 days: to transfer a used car into your name at Tráfico
Passport plus NIE: what Tráfico asks a foreign buyer
A Spanish address: a home you own or rent, or the padrón

Get my NIE

From €199, from abroad

•

4.8/5 on Trustpilot

Updated 28 October 2026 · By Brenda Lins Brito

Small white car parked beside a winding mountain road in Mallorca, Spain

Whitewashed street running downhill to parked cars, with mountains behind, in Granada, Spain

Buying a car in Spain as a foreigner is legal whether you live there or only own a home there. The car must be in your name at Tráfico (the DGT, Spain’s traffic authority) within 30 days of the sale, and Tráfico asks a foreign buyer for a residence card, or a passport plus a NIE, and for a Spanish address. On a used car, a buyer who lives abroad pays a 4% transfer tax to the State; one who lives in Spain, their region’s.

First, get your NIE number, the foreigner’s number that goes on the contract, the tax form and the registration certificate; you can apply for your NIE online, from abroad. This guide takes you through the 7 steps of buying a used car, the tax region by region, a dealer or a new car, and driving or registering a car on foreign plates.

Your NIE for the car, from abroad

We apply online and attend the appointment for you

No travel to Spain: apply online in 5 minutes

Get my NIE

From €199, from abroad

•

4.8/5 on Trustpilot

Three sample Spanish NIE certificates fanned out

Table of contents12

Buying a car in Spain in 6 numbers
Are you ready?
Can a non-resident buy a car?
Why you need a NIE
The 7 steps of a used car
The transfer tax by region
A dealer, or a new car
Driving on foreign plates
Registering a foreign car
An inherited car
A Spanish car while you live abroad
Frequently asked questions

Buying a car in Spain as a foreigner in 6 numbers (2026)

30 daysfor the buyer to transfer a used car at Tráfico, from the sale
10 daysfor the seller to notify Tráfico of the sale
€55.70Tráfico’s fee to put the car in your name
4%transfer tax on a used car, for a buyer who lives abroad
0% to 16%registration tax on a new or imported car, by its CO₂ and the region
30 or 60 daysfor a new resident to register a foreign car before the tax falls due

Are you ready to buy a car in Spain? The 30-second check

You have a NIE, or have applied for one: the contract, the tax form and Tráfico ask for it.
You have a Spanish address, a home you own or rent, or your entry on the town’s padrón.
You know who will file the transfer: you, someone with Tráfico’s free authorisation form, or a gestoría.
You can insure the car from the day it is yours: every car on Spanish plates must be insured, even parked.
You have checked the car on Tráfico’s free report: nothing that blocks the transfer.

Yes to all five? You can sign the contract and transfer the car.

Moving to Spain with your own car? See registering a foreign car, or ask us in a free call.

Get my NIE →

Your NIE from abroad, from €199.

Can a foreigner or a non-resident buy a car in Spain?

Yes. Spain’s vehicle regulation provides for foreign owners, with or without a residence card. What Tráfico needs from the buyer is an identity and an address in Spain:

Identity: a resident shows their residence card (the TIE); anyone else a passport, or an EU identity card, plus the NIE. The regulation itself names only the passport, but Tráfico’s procedure pages, its application form and its authorisation form all ask for the NIE.
A Spanish address: the regulation accepts any document that proves one, “such as owning or renting a home, or being on a town’s register”. Tráfico’s transfer form, though, asks for your padrón address as the car’s address, and Tráfico checks it against the padrón records. A foreign address won’t do: no page, form or instruction of Tráfico accepts one.

For a holiday-home owner, that means the deed of your Spanish home or a lease, and often the padrón in practice. Owners on expat forums report provincial offices of Tráfico (the Jefaturas) that asked for the padrón and others that took the deed: before you sign, ask the Jefatura of your province, or the gestoría that files for you.

A car registered at your Spanish home doesn’t make you a Spanish tax resident: the tests are the days you spend in Spain (more than 183 a year) and where the centre of your economic interests lies (what makes you tax resident in Spain).

Why you need a NIE to buy a car in Spain

Your NIE (número de identidad de extranjero) comes up at every step of a car purchase:

The contract: Tráfico’s model contract, and its list of what a contract must state, give each party’s DNI, NIE or CIF.
The transfer tax: form 620 asks for the buyer’s tax number, and a foreigner’s tax number is the NIE.
Tráfico: a foreign buyer shows a passport plus NIE, at the counter and online. Even to send someone in your place, Tráfico’s authorisation form asks for your NIE.
A new or imported car: the registration tax forms (576 and 06) need a tax number and an entry in the tax agency’s census.

How to get one: in Spain, at a police station that handles foreigners, with form EX-15 and the fee of €9.84 (form 790, code 012); the regulation gives the police 5 days to decide. From abroad, at a Spanish consulate, where London and New York quote three and five weeks. Or let us get your NIE: you apply online in 5 minutes, and we book and attend the appointment for you, without you travelling.

Spanish NIE

Your Spanish NIE, from abroad

Apply online in 5 minutes
We attend the appointment
Notary fees included

From€199

Get my NIE

4.8/51,500+ reviews

Delivery from 48 hours

How to buy a used car in Spain from a private seller, in 7 steps

From the NIE to the new registration certificate: what to do at each step, and who does it.

1
Get your NIE
The contract, the transfer tax and Tráfico all need it, and from abroad it is what takes longest: start it before you look at cars.
With us: from €199Apply online in 5 minutes
Get my NIE
2
Check the car on Tráfico’s report
With the plate, ask Tráfico for the car’s report: the short one is free and shows a green signal when nothing blocks the transfer; the full one (€8.67) adds the ITV history, the mileage, the number of owners and any charges. Last year’s road tax unpaid, a finance company’s retention of title or an embargo can block the transfer.
Short report: freeFull report: €8.67
3
Sign the contract
Write down both parties’ names and DNI or NIE, the make, model, plate, chassis number and mileage, the price, and the date and hour of the sale, and both sign every page: Tráfico’s model contract has it all. Between private individuals, the seller answers for hidden defects for 6 months after delivery.
Hidden defects: 6 months
4
Pay the transfer tax
The buyer pays the transfer tax on the higher of the price and the car’s value in the tax agency’s tables. If you live abroad: form 620 to the State, at 4%, within 30 working days. If you live in Spain: your region’s form and rate (below).
Living abroad: 4%, form 62030 working days
5
Transfer the car at Tráfico
File the change of ownership (cambio de titularidad) with the tax form, your passport and NIE, and your Spanish address: online with a digital certificate, at a Jefatura with an appointment, or through someone you authorise on Tráfico’s free form, or a gestoría. In person, you leave with the new registration certificate; until you have it, the law says the car may not be driven.
Fee: €55.7030 days from the sale
File online: get my digital certificate
6
Insure it before you drive
Every car on Spanish plates must be insured, driven or not. Without insurance, the fine is €601 to €3,005, and the car is impounded for a month.
No insurance: €601 to €3,005
7
Then, every year: road tax and ITV
The town hall of the car’s address collects the road tax (IVTM) each year from whoever owns it on 1 January. The roadworthiness test (ITV) is due every 2 years once the car is 4 years old, every year after 10. If your address changes, tell Tráfico within 15 days.
ITV: every 2 years after 4

Selling? Notify Tráfico within 10 days (€8.67), with the hour you handed over the car: until the buyer is registered or you have notified, fines from fixed cameras keep reaching you. Tráfico’s own page notes that a gestoría can handle the whole purchase, the taxes included, with you signing only the authorisations.

Beforeyour NIE, and the car’s report
Day 0the contract, signed and dated to the hour
By day 10the seller notifies Tráfico of the sale
Before day 30the transfer tax paid, then the transfer at Tráfico
Every 1 Januarythe road tax falls on the owner

Transfer tax on a used car in Spain, region by region

Between private individuals, a used car carries the transfer tax (impuesto sobre transmisiones patrimoniales, ITP), paid by the buyer whatever the contract says. Its base is the higher of the price you pay and the car’s value in the tax agency’s 2026 tables: the new price of the model, reduced with age (84% after one year, 47% after four, 10% after twelve).

If you live abroad (you are not tax resident in Spain), you pay the State, not a region: 4%, on form 620, within 30 working days of the contract. You file it in person at the tax agency’s national office in Madrid, with an appointment, or post it through any tax office, in which case you get no stamped copy unless someone with your power of attorney goes to the Madrid office.

If you live in Spain, you pay your region:

Region	Rate	Older or cheaper cars	Deadline
Andalusia	4% (8% above 15 fiscal horsepower)	No special rule	2 months
Valencia region	6% (8% from €20,000, or up to 5 years old above 2,000 cc)	Worth under €20,000: €120 to €280 at 5 to 12 years, €40 to €140 over 12, by engine size	1 month
Catalonia	5%	No return to file at 10 years or more (unless historic, or €40,000 or more new)	1 month
Madrid	4%	No special rule	30 working days
Balearic Islands	4% (8% above 15 fiscal horsepower)	No special rule	1 month
Canary Islands	5.5%	Over 10 years, up to 2,000 cc: €40, €70 or €115	1 month
Murcia	4%	Over 12 years: €0 to €75, by engine size	30 working days

An example: a car whose new price in the tables is €20,000, bought five to six years after its first registration, is valued at 39%, €7,800. Living abroad, you pay €312 (4%), unless the price you paid is higher. Living in the Valencia region, a fixed €120 to €280 by engine size; in Catalonia, €390 (5%); in the Canary Islands, €429 (5.5%).

A car bought from a dealer carries VAT instead (below), and an inherited car the inheritance tax.

Buying from a dealer, or a new car

From a dealer, there is no transfer tax: the price includes VAT at 21%. On a used car the dealer bought from a private owner, the VAT is often charged on the dealer’s margin only, and the invoice doesn’t show it. Tráfico takes the invoice instead of form 620. The dealer answers for faults that appear within 3 years of delivery, or at least 1 year if you agree a shorter period for a second-hand car. Buyers who live abroad pay the VAT like anyone else, whatever some pages say.

A new car is usually registered by the dealer (Tráfico’s fee is €99.77), with the same passport plus NIE and Spanish address. You also pay the registration tax (impuesto de matriculación), on the price before VAT, by the car’s official CO₂ emissions:

CO₂ emissions	Rate
Up to 120 g/km, and electric cars	0%
Over 120, under 160 g/km	4.75%
160, under 200 g/km	9.75%
200 g/km or more	14.75%

On the top band, the Balearic Islands, Catalonia and the Valencia region charge 16%, and Murcia 15.9%; the Canary Islands have their own, lower rates (0%, 3.75%, 8.75% and 13.75%). The form needs your tax number, so your NIE comes first here too, and the year’s road tax is paid to the town hall of your address before the car is registered.

Car on a hairpin coastal road above the sea at Cap de Formentor, Mallorca, Spain

How long can you drive a foreign-registered car in Spain?

If you live abroad, you can drive your own car in Spain on its plates:

A car registered in another EU country is exempt from Spanish taxes for up to six months in any twelve, under EU law, if your normal residence is elsewhere (at least 185 days a year) and you don’t lend or hire it to someone who lives in Spain.
A car from outside the EU (the UK, the US) comes in under customs temporary admission, for six months. Cars on UK plates brought in since 2021 count as non-EU.

The “183 days” you may read is the income-tax test, not a car rule. And the tourist plate (matrícula turística), which let non-residents drive a Spanish car tax-free six months a year, was abolished in 2018.

Once you live in Spain, the car must be registered there. The registration tax falls due if you haven’t asked for Spanish registration within 30 days of the car entering Spain, or 60 days when you claim the moving exemption below. If the authorities find the car, you get 5 days to register it or guarantee the tax before the car is immobilised, and the fine starts at 50% of the unpaid tax.

How to register a foreign car in Spain when you move

Your NIE and your residence papers. The tax forms and Tráfico ask for the NIE; customs relief asks for your EU registration certificate or your TIE, or proof you applied.
The ITV inspection. An ITV station checks the car with its foreign registration certificate and its Certificate of Conformity (CoC), and issues the Spanish technical card. No CoC? A “reduced sheet” signed by an engineer. A car from outside the EU without European approval needs an individual approval first, with dipped headlights adapted to driving on the right.
The registration tax, or the moving exemption. Form 576 at the rates above, on the car’s value in the tax agency’s tables. Moving to Spain? Form 06 exempts the car if you lived abroad for the 12 months before, bought it with that country’s normal taxes, used it there for at least 6 months, and don’t sell it for 12 months. You need a consular certificate of residence abroad, and you lose the exemption if you file after the 60 days.
From the UK or the US: customs first. A car brought from outside the EU pays import duty and 21% import VAT, unless you claim the relief for a transfer of residence on the customs declaration (H1) within 12 months of moving, with the same 12 months abroad and 6 months of use. Since 1 July 2026, cars made in the US pay no EU duty, until the end of 2029 unless the EU suspends it; the import VAT remains.
Road tax, Tráfico, plates. Pay the year’s road tax to your town hall, then register the car at Tráfico (€99.77) with your passport and NIE or your residence card, the ITV card, the foreign papers and the tax form. Buy the plates and insure the car. Green temporary plates (€20.61, 60 days, renewable) let you drive it meanwhile.

Tráfico’s page also asks you to deregister the car for export in its home country before you move it: check what that country’s authority needs.

An inherited car in Spain

Whoever keeps the car after the owner’s death tells Tráfico within 90 days of the death (€8.67) and gets a provisional permit. The heir who receives the car then transfers it within 90 days of the document that allocates it, with proof of the inheritance tax, a passport and NIE, and the transfer fee of €55.70. Several heirs agree in writing which one will be the registered owner. Heirs who live abroad file the inheritance tax with the State’s tax agency: see inheritance tax in Spain for non-residents.

Owning a Spanish car while you live abroad

Insurance, all year: every car on Spanish plates must be insured, even parked for months. Insurers may not set your premium by your nationality, nor only by the EU country you lived in before.
Fines: Tráfico writes to the address on the registration. Living abroad, sign up for its electronic road address (Dirección Electrónica Vial) to read your notices online wherever you are; it needs a digital certificate, and a notice left unopened 10 days counts as rejected.
Road tax and ITV run while the car is registered: the road tax every year, and the ITV must be valid for the car to be driven.
Ibiza and Formentera limit the cars that may enter or stay on the island for part of the year. A non-resident who owns a home there is exempt for one car per owner (in Ibiza, if the car’s tax address is that home). Mallorca has no such law: its island council approved a bill on 5 June 2026 and sent it to the Balearic Parliament.
Your licence: an EU licence stays valid in Spain. One from outside the EU is valid for six months after you become resident, or after you enter Spain as a visitor; then exchange it, if Spain has an agreement with the issuing country, or pass the Spanish tests. Residents exchange a UK licence without a test since the 2023 agreement; a US licence can’t be exchanged.

Buying a home too? See buying a house in Spain as a foreigner. In Portugal instead? See how to buy a car in Portugal.

How we checked this guide

The rules, amounts and fees in this guide were checked on 28 October 2026 against the law and the official portals:

the Reglamento General de Vehículos (RD 2822/1998), articles 28, 30, 32, 33, 40 and 43 and annexes XIII and XIV; the traffic law (RDLeg 6/2015), articles 60, 68, 75 to 80, 90 and 91;
Tráfico’s (DGT) pages on transferring a vehicle, notifying a sale, the vehicle report, registering a vehicle, green temporary plates, the tax address, the electronic road address and transfers after a death; its forms 02 and 24, its model contract, its fee catalogue and its Instrucción VEH 2023/12;
the transfer tax law (RDLeg 1/1993), articles 7, 8, 10, 11 and 45, its regulation, article 102, Ley 22/2009, articles 28, 33 and 51, and the tax agency’s page on form 620 for non-residents; Orden HAC/1501/2025 (the 2026 price tables);
each region’s rules for the transfer tax: Andalusia (Ley 5/2021), the Valencia region (Ley 13/1997), Catalonia (DLeg 1/2024), Madrid (DLeg 1/2010), the Balearic Islands (DLeg 1/2014), the Canary Islands (DLeg 1/2009) and Murcia (DLeg 1/2010);
the excise duties law (Ley 38/1992), articles 65, 66, 69, 70 and 71 and its first additional provision; the tax agency’s instructions for forms 576 and 06 and its page on regional rates; the Ministry of Finance’s “Tributación Autonómica. Medidas 2026”; Ley 6/2018 (the end of the tourist plate);
the VAT law (Ley 37/1992), articles 13, 28, 90 and 135 to 138; the consumer law (RDLeg 1/2007), articles 120 and 121; the Código Civil, articles 1484 to 1490;
Council Directive 83/182/EEC, articles 3 and 7; Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2446, articles 212 to 217; Council Regulation (EC) 1186/2009, articles 3 to 9; Regulation (EU) 2026/1455; the customs notes NI GA 15/2021 and NI 08/2026; RD 750/2010, article 5, and the resolution of 25 October 2019 on vehicles from third countries;
the motor insurance law (RDLeg 8/2004), articles 2 and 3; RD 920/2017 (ITV), article 6; the local finance law (TRLRHL), articles 92 to 99;
the Reglamento General de Conductores (RD 818/2009), articles 15, 21 and 22, the Spain–UK licence agreement of 15 March 2023 and DGT’s list of licence exchanges; Ibiza’s Ley 5/2024 and Formentera’s Ley 7/2019, article 3, and the Consell de Mallorca’s notices of June and July 2026;
Real Decreto 1065/2007, article 20, and Real Decreto 1155/2024, article 205 (the NIE); the income tax law (Ley 35/2006), article 9.

Written by Brenda L., relocation expert at AnchorLess. This guide explains the rules; for a car with debts, an import from outside the EU or a dispute with a seller, ask a gestoría or a lawyer.

Frequently asked questions

Can a foreigner buy a car in Spain?

Yes, resident or not. Tráfico asks for a passport plus a NIE, or a residence card, and a Spanish address: a home you own or rent, or your entry on the padrón. The car must be transferred into your name within 30 days of the sale.

Do I need a NIE to buy a car in Spain?

Yes, in practice. Tráfico asks foreign buyers for a passport plus NIE, the transfer-tax form asks for your tax number, which for a foreigner is the NIE, and the contract carries it. AnchorLess gets your NIE online, from abroad.

Can I register a car in Spain if I don’t live there?

Yes, at a Spanish address: a home you own or rent there, or the padrón. Tráfico’s form asks for your padrón address and checks it, so ask your provincial office whether your deed or lease is enough. A foreign address is not accepted.

How much does it cost to transfer a car in Spain?

Tráfico’s fee is €55.70. Add the transfer tax: 4% of the higher of the price and the tax tables’ value if you live abroad; 4% to 8% if you live in Spain, by region and car, or a fixed €0 to €280 for older, cheaper cars in some regions.

How long do I have to transfer a car in Spain?

30 days from the sale for the buyer; the seller notifies Tráfico within 10 days. After 30 days, Tráfico can order the car immobilised and open a fine procedure, and until you have the new certificate the car may not be driven.

How long can I drive a foreign car in Spain?

If you live abroad: up to six months in any twelve for a car from another EU country, six months for a car from outside the EU. Once you live in Spain, register it: the registration tax falls due after 30 days, or 60 days if you claim the moving exemption.

Do I pay tax to register my car when I move to Spain?

Not if you claim the exemption on form 06 within the 60 days: you lived abroad for the 12 months before, used the car there for at least 6, and don’t sell it for 12 months. Otherwise the registration tax applies to the car’s value, from 0% to 16% by its CO₂ and the region.

Can I bring my UK car to Spain?

Yes. As a visitor, for six months under customs temporary admission. If you move to Spain, a UK car pays import duty and 21% VAT unless you claim the transfer-of-residence relief within 12 months, then the registration steps of any foreign car: the ITV, the registration tax or its exemption, Tráfico.

Do I need insurance for a car parked in Spain?

Yes. Every car on Spanish plates must be insured, driven or not. Without insurance, the fine is €601 to €3,005, and the car is impounded for a month.

Does the tourist plate still exist in Spain?

No. The matrícula turística, which let non-residents drive a Spanish car tax-free six months a year, was abolished in July 2018, and the last plates ran out at the end of that year.

Still have questions?

Can't find the answer you're looking for? Contact our team of experts.

Book a free consultation

Málaga's port and old town at sunset, seen from Gibralfaro castle

Buy and register your car in Spain, step by step

Your NIE first, then the transfer at Tráfico.

Your Spanish NIE, without travelling.

Get my NIE

Talk to us for free

4.8/5 on Trustpilot

AnchorLess is not a bank, accountant, tax advisor, investment advisor, or law firm, nor are we a government or official government website. We act as an intermediary, helping connect you with accredited professionals and streamlining administrative processes for your relocation in Europe.