British residents in the Balearics and across Spain have ten working days from Monday to exchange their UK driving licence for a Spanish one of face being banned from driving on a British licence.
In theory after September 15, British driving licences can still be exchanged but from my personal experience, and I hope to resolve my issue this week having had endless refusals because I still have an old paper licence which is valid until 2039, I would exchange your licence within the next ten working days.
In Palma, for example, the DGT suddenly had plenty of available appointments yesterday, at last, so don’t waste any more time because I doubt very much that the Spanish authorities will do British residents any more favours when it comes to driving licences. If the DGT finally gives me a break, it's only taken the full six months.
This last window was agreed in March between the UK and Spain for drivers to swap licences without needing to take a practical or theory test.
The agreement gave existing residents who had not yet exchanged their UK licences for a Spanish one six months to do so; during this time they could continue to drive on their UK licences until 15 September.
As residents arriving after 15 March, the agreement gave them six months from the date they acquired their residency documents to exchange their UK licence.
The British embassy has urged UK licence holders to make the exchange by 15 September.
The British Embassy in Madrid has also announced that a resolution had been found to an issue which some holders of expired UK licences (typically those over 70 years old) had been experiencing when trying to exchange their licences.
Ambassador Hugh Elliott said: “It is very important that UK licence holders who lived in Spain prior to 15 March 2023 and want to drive here exchange their licences on or before the 15 September. We want this message to reach as many UK licence holders as possible, so please spread the word and refer to our Facebook page and the Living In Spain Guide on gov.uk for more information.”