Before you start

Residence in Spain and the padrón certificate
A valid foreign licence
NIE or TIE
A medical fitness certificate from an authorised centro de reconocimiento de conductores

Step-by-step

1
Check the DGT exchange list for your country
Spain maintains a specific list of countries whose licences exchange without testing. It reflects bilateral treaties rather than road-safety records. The UK agreement has been in force since March 2023 and allows exchange without a practical test. Check before assuming — the answer decides whether this is a form or a year of autoescuela lessons.
OnlineWho: YouBefore the six months expire
2
Act inside the six-month window
You may generally drive on a valid foreign licence for six months after becoming resident. After that it is not valid in Spain regardless of its printed expiry, and driving on it is an offence with serious insurance consequences after an accident.
OnlineWho: YouWithin 6 months of residency
3
Get the psychotechnical medical certificate
A short assessment at an authorised centro de reconocimiento de conductores covering vision, hearing and reaction testing. Quick, inexpensive and required for both an exchange and a new licence.
In personWho: You
4
Submit at the Jefatura Provincial de Tráfico in Granada
Bring the medical certificate, padrón certificate, TIE, photographs, your foreign licence and the paid fee. The foreign licence is surrendered as part of the exchange, so photograph or copy it first if you need the record.
In personWho: You
5
Understand the restricted zones before you rent a parking space
The Albaicín and much of the old centre are restricted to residents and permit holders, enforced by camera, and Granada operates a low-emission zone in the central area under Spain's climate law — which applies to older vehicles regardless of where they are registered. Check a specific address against the current zone map before assuming you can park a car at it.
OnlineWho: You
6
Plan for winter equipment on the Sierra Nevada road
The A-395 climbs to 2,100 metres at Pradollano, and snow chains or winter tyres become compulsory when the road signs say so. Enforcement is real and the Guardia Civil turns cars back. If you intend to use the mountain in winter, carry chains that fit your car and know how to fit them before you need to.
In personWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Foreign driving licence, with an official translation if not in Spanish
TIE or NIE
Padrón certificate
Medical fitness certificate from an authorised centre
Passport photographs and the paid DGT fee

Things most newcomers don’t know

Six months, not twelve — and the UK is now on the exchange list.

Two assumptions catch people. The grace period for a foreign licence is six months from residency, not the year UK and US arrivals expect. And the UK–Spain exchange agreement, absent for two years after Brexit and the subject of a great deal of alarm at the time, has been in force since March 2023 — British residents exchange without a practical test. Advice written during the gap is still circulating and is now wrong.

Source: Dirección General de Tráfico

You cannot drive to a flat in the Albaicín, and that is not a parking problem — it is a lifestyle one.

The Albaicín's cuestas are medieval and mostly too narrow for a car, access is camera-controlled and limited to residents and permit holders, and the only public transport that fits is a fleet of minibuses. Living there means carrying shopping up a cobbled hill and paying for a garage somewhere else. The carmen with the Alhambra view is genuinely wonderful and genuinely inconvenient, and people fall for the first half without pricing the second.

Source: Ayuntamiento de Granada

A ski resort forty-five minutes away changes what a car is for.

Sierra Nevada is 32 km from the city and reachable in about three quarters of an hour on the A-395, which makes half-day skiing after a morning of work an ordinary thing here rather than a holiday. The ski-bus from the Palacio de Congresos removes the parking and chains problem entirely and is what most residents actually use. Before buying a car for the mountain, check whether the bus already does the job.

Source: Cetursa Sierra Nevada

The licence exchange needs the padrón, which is why the order matters.

The Jefatura Provincial requires proof of residence in the province and the padrón certificate supplies it. People who postponed registering find out at the DGT counter with two months of their six-month window left, and then need an appointment at the ayuntamiento before they can even book the DGT one. Registering in your first fortnight is what keeps the licence deadline comfortable.

Source: Dirección General de Tráfico

Common mistakes to avoid

Assuming a twelve-month grace period; the Spanish window is six months from residency.
Relying on Brexit-era advice that UK licences cannot be exchanged — the agreement has been in force since March 2023.
Taking a flat in the Albaicín without pricing a garage and the hill.
Driving into the central low-emission zone in an older vehicle without checking the current rules.
Going up the A-395 in winter without chains that fit your car.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.