Hello, moving my motorhome to Spain (1 Viewer)

[clareking]

Hello, just joined the forum, hoping for some help and understanding!

I'm in deep stress and depression. I'm a Spanish resident but I'm in UK a lot, I've always owned a caravan or converted van but never a motorhome. I divide my time between the 2 countries quite evenly, working in UK in the summer and Spain in winter. This summer I bought a little. LHD Hymer Swing 494 motor home, 1996 to enable me to nip back and forth to jobs and be able to eventually matriculate it in Spain. What an absolute shambles I stumbled into!

My gestor (legal guy for bureaucracy, everybody has one) assured me that it would be ok,go ahead, just buy a LHD, all will be well.

He obviously hadn't read that Brexit puts UK citizens on the same footing as people from everywhere else in the world outside EU, and makes importing a vehicle much harder.

So he threw his hands up when I began the process and said it's impossible, and when pressed said, I can't be bothered to do it. It's too hard.

I live in a pretty unpopulated area and do not have access to whizz kid gestores, they are all in the big cities. The ones willing to work in my area don't want difficult problems, hard work or English people at all to be honest!

At the moment I have drawn an absolute blank. I know it will attract tax and duty, and am willing to see what that would be, but no one has got past the point of "does it have a Certificate of Conformity", no... "Oh well it's impossible"! I have contacted Fiat (the cab) and Hymer (the ramshackle body of which they should be ashamed) and both have been supremely unhelpful. Fiat saying that their CoC would be superceded by Hymer's, and actually in 1996 there was no CoC issued and so it goes on.

Does anyone have POST BREXIT WITHDRAWAL AGREEMENT experience that can help me? Or know of a place that can?

 

[Rapido925M]

Not an answer to your question but what about selling your MH in uk while prices are still reasonably high and buying something in eu (Germany for example)?

Gordon

 

[clareking]

Well it might come to that, but I like this one, it suits my needs and I don't have time to go to Germany, in Spain it's beyond my pocket tbh, and to boot, this one is shabby and lots of plastics are degraded, including a window which is broken by my granddaughter accidentally trying to shut it when the side catch was in closed position. So not very saleable.

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[David and Sally]

 

[Raul]

I hate to say it, but as mentioned above selling in UK and buy in EU will be best. We tried to matriculate in Ro, same problems and no RHD allowed anymore. Also the 20% vat, plus tax import, makes it unattractive to matriculate a UK vehicle of any kind. We will eventually end up with one here, and one there.

 

[clareking]

Mine is LHD, and originally German. Still has headlights to the EU side and everything correct for being in EU. I don't mind the tax well I do but I accept it and it will be less than doing all the repairs and getting this old crate tarty enough to sell. It's been a workhorse

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[TheBig1]

Sorry, no help with the matriculation, as that is as you found, near impossible. But replacement windows can be made by eeco-ltd.co.uk

 

[jumartoo]

Where in Spain are you?

 

[gus-lopez]

Hi & welcome

He obviously hadn't read that Brexit puts UK citizens on the same footing as people from everywhere else in the world outside EU, and makes importing a vehicle much harder.

The fact that you are British has no bearing on the sitation whatsoever. As a spanish resident you are the same as a spanish national without the passport.
You are just importing a vehicle the same as hundereds of people & garages do every day from all over the EU.
I haven't done one for some years but all we used to do here in Lorca was shove the UK registration document under the glass in the ITV centre & say we wish to rematriculate to spanish plates. They would do an inspection + an ITv(MOT) about 220€. Being left hand drive it cannot be refused.
Once passed you would be issued witha 'ficha tecnica' document showing all technical details of the vehicle but without the new registraion.
You then go to your local Hacienda (tax office) & pay your yearly road tax based on the chassis number
( bastidor) Amount depends on each local council.


After this you have to go to an office of 'Trafíco' ,for us this is in Murcia city .

Queue up to obtain & pay for the required form ( can't remember the form number) . Take ticket for upstairs , & fill in form whilst waiting.
When it is your turn you supply the
ficha tecnica
proof of payment of road tax to local council
the completed application form
a bill of sale. even if you didn't have one ,make one up . without this it will all fall down.
possibly insurance but can't remember? ( don't think we did have)
Once ok'd
you have to go to the Hacienda main office to pay the import tax. This will be due as you are already a spanish resident so there is no exemption . & is just the same as anyone privately, business or garage importing a vehicle. In Murcia City fortunately this is just around the corner.
Here we just take a ticket & wait to be called.
The tax is based on the actual vehicle & age according to a spanish government list updated yearly for all & every type of vehicle available in the country.
The tax is on a sliding scale starting at 100% in the first year & reducing by 10% each year up to year 10 ,where it is 10% & It stays at this amount for the remainder of its life.
The Actual tax is 4,1% of the value.
So if we say yours cost 20,000€ when new the value is now 2,000€ (10%) x 4,1% = 82€ tax to pay.
I don't know about other main tax offices but here we have a bank inside the tax office where you can pay. You have to take a ticket & await your turn. Once paid you then take another ticket for the front counter of the hacienda where they take your form ,along with the payment receipt, & stamp the documents to show it is paid.

Armed with all this tat you return to the Trafíco office & take another ticket for upstairs .When it is your turn,, & now complete with proof of import tax paid, it should be a straight case of stamp documents, ficha tecnica now gets registration nmber punched through it & a 'permiso de circulacion' is supplied showing you as the registered owner with vehicle details & registration number . You can now go & get some plates made up..

2 things to bear in mind.
1) there never was a Certificate of Conformity for a motorhome at that age.
2) your vehicle being 1996 is just 25 years old. Most councils exempt vehicles OVER 25 years old from paying road tax but you have to register it at the local council showing it as exempt. Your vehicle ,being 1996 ,would not be exempt until next year so any registartion tis year wold mean the road tax needs paying from 01-01-2021, I.E; the whole year.

** Most gestorias will not get involved if they think it is problematical. There business relies on an accord with those they deal with. If the idiot behind the counter says black is white they have to swallow it & rarely will argue as they know they will be at the bottom of the pile every time & every possible excuse to make there lives a misery will be found.
Whereas the man in the street , me, has no interest in what the bloke behind the counters axe to grind is & will ask for the 'Hojas de Recamación' (Complaint forms) at the first sign of being mucked about,& believe me I have had it attempted to be done to me. Another thing many of the "blokes behind counter" do not like is private people doing what a gestoria should be doing as It means they have to actually do a bit more than a lazy check as gestorias just dump them on the counter & return later & their paperwork is usually 100% correct.

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[In a Pickle]

Fantastic reply from gus-lopez.

We have an outstanding Gestor in Mazarron. When we first arrived here fifteen years ago we thought we were being smart in purchasing a spanish registered car in the U.K. only to find out it had been removed from the records of the Spanish equivalent of the DVLA when it was exported to the U.K.!
After several attempts by different Gestors to sort this out, all of which failed, we found an old establishment in Mazarron who just said no problem and sorted it within a couple of weeks for a small charge. Needless to say we have used them ever since, so if you do want their name and number please let me know, they have an English speaking member of staff.
Andrea

 

[Riverbankannie]

In an earlier thread this year

Re-Registration in Spain .... SUCCESS !!

This post is by way of information for other people that have tried in the past and , if you follow posts from 2015, 2017 and 2018, not been successful in re-registering a UK built MH onto Spanish plates. Following retirement in 2015 we decided that we wanted to travel more and for longer...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

This chap was mentioned
Laurent Gerin 0034 667 82 06 53 - info@lineainmobiliaria.com

 

[Snoopy]

Hi and welcome

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[WoldsSunlight]

Hi & welcome


The fact that you are British has no bearing on the sitation whatsoever. As a spanish resident you are the same as a spanish national without the passport.
You are just importing a vehicle the same as hundereds of people & garages do every day from all over the EU.
I haven't done one for some years but all we used to do here in Lorca was shove the UK registration document under the glass in the ITV centre & say we wish to rematriculate to spanish plates. They would do an inspection + an ITv(MOT) about 220€. Being left hand drive it cannot be refused.
Once passed you would be issued witha 'ficha tecnica' document showing all technical details of the vehicle but without the new registraion.
You then go to your local Hacienda (tax office) & pay your yearly road tax based on the chassis number
( bastidor) Amount depends on each local council.


After this you have to go to an office of 'Trafíco' ,for us this is in Murcia city .

Queue up to obtain & pay for the required form ( can't remember the form number) . Take ticket for upstairs , & fill in form whilst waiting.
When it is your turn you supply the
ficha tecnica
proof of payment of road tax to local council
the completed application form
a bill of sale. even if you didn't have one ,make one up . without this it will all fall down.
possibly insurance but can't remember? ( don't think we did have)
Once ok'd
you have to go to the Hacienda main office to pay the import tax. This will be due as you are already a spanish resident so there is no exemption . & is just the same as anyone privately, business or garage importing a vehicle. In Murcia City fortunately this is just around the corner.
Here we just take a ticket & wait to be called.
The tax is based on the actual vehicle & age according to a spanish government list updated yearly for all & every type of vehicle available in the country.
The tax is on a sliding scale starting at 100% in the first year & reducing by 10% each year up to year 10 ,where it is 10% & It stays at this amount for the remainder of its life.
The Actual tax is 4,1% of the value.
So if we say yours cost 20,000€ when new the value is now 2,000€ (10%) x 4,1% = 82€ tax to pay.
I don't know about other main tax offices but here we have a bank inside the tax office where you can pay. You have to take a ticket & await your turn. Once paid you then take another ticket for the front counter of the hacienda where they take your form ,along with the payment receipt, & stamp the documents to show it is paid.

Armed with all this tat you return to the Trafíco office & take another ticket for upstairs .When it is your turn,, & now complete with proof of import tax paid, it should be a straight case of stamp documents, ficha tecnica now gets registration nmber punched through it & a 'permiso de circulacion' is supplied showing you as the registered owner with vehicle details & registration number . You can now go & get some plates made up..

2 things to bear in mind.
1) there never was a Certificate of Conformity for a motorhome at that age.
2) your vehicle being 1996 is just 25 years old. Most councils exempt vehicles OVER 25 years old from paying road tax but you have to register it at the local council showing it as exempt. Your vehicle ,being 1996 ,would not be exempt until next year so any registartion tis year wold mean the road tax needs paying from 01-01-2021, I.E; the whole year.

** Most gestorias will not get involved if they think it is problematical. There business relies on an accord with those they deal with. If the idiot behind the counter says black is white they have to swallow it & rarely will argue as they know they will be at the bottom of the pile every time & every possible excuse to make there lives a misery will be found.
Whereas the man in the street , me, has no interest in what the bloke behind the counters axe to grind is & will ask for the 'Hojas de Recamación' (Complaint forms) at the first sign of being mucked about,& believe me I have had it attempted to be done to me. Another thing many of the "blokes behind counter" do not like is private people doing what a gestoria should be doing as It means they have to actually do a bit more than a lazy check as gestorias just dump them on the counter & return later & their paperwork is usually 100% correct.

Great reply, and brings back memories nightmares of importing my (then) 4 month old VW California from Germany to Spain.
Long story short - they wouldn't matriculate it, as they thought the roof had been replaced! (they were working on the dimensions for a standard T5 van, whereas (of course,) the pop-top roof adds a little bit extra to the height.) No amount of attempting to reason with them that I hadn't suddenly, on a whim, decided to change a perfectly good 4 month old roof did any good. Several days later, one 'official' A4 piece of paper from VW Spain, confirming that the roof was, in fact, original, and I was able to continue the tortuous, medieval process and eventually get Spanish plates.
The VW Spain letter, btw, cost me €200.....

Liked Spain, but happy to have left after 6.5 years of unbearable petty bureaucracy. I was convinced that had I offered, say, €50 at the ITV station, the problem would have gone away. My blood pressure rose a few days later, having seen a vehicle travelling in the opposite direction, on Spanish plates, and having NO bodywork forward of the A pillar - no wings, (inner or outer,) no bonnet, no front lights, no bumper, just an engine and radiator..... as our American cousins say: "go figure!"

Oh, and I did all the foot slogging that you mention around the various offices - no Gestor for me! Of course, the various offices are conveniently located next to each other to make the process easier, aren't they?.... except they're not....not even close, as in one side of the city (Sevilla) and then the other side...repeat ad nauseam....

 

[Burgo]

Once passed you would be issued witha 'ficha tecnica

Are you sure, Gus? I thought when we matriculated my bike and a Mazda MX5over here we had to have a draft ficha técnica drawn up by a qualified engineer. The ITV station then just did an ITV on the vehicle - boolean pass or fail ticket. The gestor then took the ficha, ITV pass, import tax receipt, UK log book and an import form to Tráfico to get a proper ficha and permiso issued. Was a while back though so may be wrong..

 

[clareking]

Gus Lopez,muchísimo gracias, but... One thing you said "You are just importing a vehicle the same as hundreds of people & garages do every day from all over the EU." The point is I think, that I'm not importing from EU, but from a "3rd nation" on the same level as a Moroccan or Russian or US citizen. So It seems the. IVA taxIS 20%...And import duty is pretty high too, I was quoted 30%.I would love that to be proved to be not the case, and I'm willing to try anyone Andrea I would love the contact in Marrazón, although I live pretty far away in the "Badlands" the little desert between Baza and Guadix, I'm so desperate. I'm going to go through what Gus says, and try. But I'm feeling like this is pre Brexit protocol.

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[clareking]

I'm overwhelmed by everyone's kindness and I'm really glad I joined thank you all.i wonder if this should become a thread of its own? But I haven't a clue how to do that. Plus answering an individual person... Is that possible?

 

[EuroTrotters]

Hi, welcome.

Arno at Seguro parking imported my RHD car for me. I had a certificate of conformity that I obtained.

It could have been done without the COC but it was €100 more.

Long and Short Term Parking at Murcia and Alicante Airport

Seguro Parking provides long- and short term parking at Murcia Airport, Alicante Airport and Almería Airport for the best prices possible!

seguroparking.com

 

[jumartoo]

I'm overwhelmed by everyone's kindness and I'm really glad I joined thank you all.i wonder if this should become a thread of its own? But I haven't a clue how to do that. Plus answering an individual person... Is that possible?

Yes. Press quote and then type your answer. You can also do multi quote and answer each one individually as well. It'll all become clear the more you use the forum .

Clare. Contact Hispavan at Antas. Even if just for a chat. They are slightly closer to you than Mazarron. They are supposed to be very good at all things motorhome. I think you may be right though about the tax

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[2657]

Regarding 3rd nation imports I recently matriculated my 8 year old RHD Globecar into Portugal, not Spain I know but I think the 3rd nation status will be the same.
My agent advised me to get the application in before the 31st December to avoid this, we have had Portuguese residency for 3 years, the import duty was around €1300.
After that date and then importing from a 3rd nation it would have been much more, around €5000 from memory, plus all the other costs involved.

 

[gus-lopez]

Are you sure, Gus? I thought when we matriculated my bike and a Mazda MX5over here we had to have a draft ficha técnica drawn up by a qualified engineer. The ITV station then just did an ITV on the vehicle - boolean pass or fail ticket. The gestor then took the ficha, ITV pass, import tax receipt, UK log book and an import form to Tráfico to get a proper ficha and permiso issued. Was a while back though so may be wrong..

Yes we always received the ficha without reg nmber except if it was a Friday when Madrid who ok'd everything on the compter system , finished at 1pm.so you had to wait until monday

although I live pretty far away in the "Badlands" the little desert between Baza and Guadix,

I knew you were going to say Andalcia .Anything there is a nightmare.

Clare. Contact Hispavan at Antas. Even if just for a chat. They are slightly closer to you than Mazarron. They are supposed to be very good at all things motorhome. I think you may be right though about the tax

Yes I had forgotten about Hispavan. Give them a ring they are right on the autovia at Antas & leo who owns it was always excellent in all dealings I have had with him. Have a chat with them, Apoligies for forgetting they would now want extra tax.Unless of course the first attempt by you was before the transition period ended?

https://hispavan.com/en/

 

[Vipar]

Greetings peeps welcome from Bexley UK

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[Carol]

Hello and welcome lots of good information that I known nothing about but on the forum I do know if you want to mention a particular user just put a
@. before their forum name eg. clareking you will get a drop down bar click the name you want and they will get notification.

Good luck with getting it sorted.

 

[ambulancekidd]