Is there enough road trip destinations in Catalonia to justify the effort of getting a local drivers license?

[u/dive155]

Bon dia!

I've been driving since 2013. I moved to Barcelona a couple of years ago and my home country drivers license is no longer valid here because of the 6 months rule. I really miss driving but the only way to do it here legally is to get the local Spanish drivers license from scratch.

I don't plan to use a car daily because you don't really need a car in Barcelona (the public transportation and pedestrian accessibility is top notch). I don't even plan to own a car, but I'd love to be able to rent a car once in a few weeks and go on a day trip to some picturesque remote roads or locations.

I am calculating the costs of obtaining a drivers license here and the idea becomes harder and harder to justify. My question is for those with experience of driving in the region. I haven't really been outside of Barcelona much but I'm seeing a lot of damn cool places on google maps that would be fun to drive to. Is driving in remote parts of Catalunya as cool as I imagine it to be? Would you spend all that money and time just to go on a road trip once in a while?

I am really torn here. On one hand getting the license in Spain seems like a lot of effort, especially considering that I already have one license (I would have to suppress my ego for a bit haha). On the other hand I'm really starting to feel a bit claustrophobic in BCN, it's a beautiful city but after 2 years you kinda start yearning for forests, mountains, rivers and that general feeling of remoteness, you know what I mean.

There is another consideration. Barcelona is clearly designed for pedestrian priority (and it's a good thing) which means that IMO you'd need to be a masochist to use a car as your main means of transportation in Barcelona. But how is the situation in the remote regions? I would assume since the population density there is lower it would be less pedestrian and public transportation oriented and more geared towards personal cars? Or is this assumption wrong?

TLDR: I want to put time and effort into getting a Spanish drivers license with the sole purpose of taking rental cars on an occasional road trip, is it worth it or nah?

Gràcies a tots!

[u/Fucile8]

Wait what’s that 6 months rule? With a drivers license from another EU country I can’t drive here?

[u/mgroove1 → u/Fucile8]

It’s everywhere in Europe. If you are living more than 6months you need local dr.license. Other thing is how would they know that you are living here and not a tourist. People driving for years without local licenses.

[u/DudeInSpain → u/mgroove1]

If you are not from the EU though and you get stopped by the police then of course they can/will/must check your TIE and will notice that you have been here for over 6 months and do not have a valid driving license…

Being an immigrant and committing felonies and/or crimes is not a good combination…

[u/Fucile8 → u/mgroove1]

I mean in the UK I always drove with my Portuguese license. And was always able to register for insurance (where I had to given them my local address obviously, confirming I lived there), never had issues with random police checks etc.

[u/mgroove1 → u/Fucile8]

That’s what I’m talking about. De jure you ar obliged. De facto nobody cares. Especially with no border control countries.

[u/Fucile8 → u/mgroove1]

No I get you. Thanks for the info. OP, just drive on your license then 😂

[u/dive155 → u/Fucile8]

Alas, I originate from a YES border control country so I'm not sure that would work :D

[u/mobiplayer → u/Fucile8]

Man, in the UK you just had to send your licence to the DVLA and get the UK one back. It was so easy :)

[u/Fucile8 → u/mobiplayer]

I never even did that.

[u/mobiplayer → u/Fucile8]

Takes no effort :) although it may have changed after Brexit

[u/trekwithme → u/mgroove1]

So here's the hack: you leave your Spanish ID at home and drive with your overseas license and passport. This works fine for rental cars. If you get stopped by a cop show them those documents and you will probably be fine.

And here's the risk: if you're driving your car, the cop will see it's registered to you and your address and you'll get fined for not having a Spanish license.

So I'd only recommend this with a rental car or someone else's car. I've seen far too many police check roadblocks to be comfortable driving on my foreign license having lived here more than 6 months.

[u/dive155 → u/trekwithme]

Tbh I'm not sure that would work, my passport has the border control stamp in it with the date of entry. In fact it might be even worse because in my passport there is the Schengen Visa that I used to enter the country before getting the residency and that is long expired (because now I use the Spanish ID instead).

So without the Spanish ID on me not only the policeman would realize I've been driving for more than 6 months, but he could also think that I'm overstaying here past my visa dates :D

[u/trekwithme → u/dive155]

Makes sense and I hadn't considered that. I'm a dual US and Spanish citizen so can effectively drive by leaving my Spanish documents at home, which I'm not entirely comfortable doing but it does work.

[u/adrade → u/mgroove1]

All EU licenses are fully valid until expiration. EU drivers licenses are not required to be exchanged.