Driving in Girona

Your UK licence is valid in Spain. For two years after you become a resident. After that you need a Spanish licence and the exchange process is not as straightforward as the DVLA makes it sound.

In Girona, the exchange runs through the Jefatura Provincial de Trànsit de Girona on Carrer dels Jocs Olímpics — a provincial DGT office that handles a smaller volume of applications than the Málaga or Barcelona equivalents, which is both an advantage and a complication. Appointments are available but not abundant, and the office operates primarily in Catalan and Spanish. If you arrive expecting English-language assistance, you will be disappointed.

This guide is for UK nationals who are already living in Girona or planning to move there, who hold a standard DVLA licence, and who need to understand what the exchange process actually involves — not the official summary, but the practical reality of doing it in a mid-sized Catalan city where administrative processes move at their own pace and language is a genuine variable.

What this actually involves in Girona

The DGT office on Carrer dels Jocs Olímpics and what to expect there

The Jefatura Provincial de Trànsit de Girona is located at Carrer dels Jocs Olímpics, 1. This is your only option for the in-person appointment — there is no satellite DGT office in the city centre. The office handles licence exchanges, vehicle registration, and related traffic administration for the entire Girona province, which includes the Costa Brava coastal municipalities and the Pyrenean interior. That geographic spread means appointment slots fill up, particularly in spring and early summer when new arrivals from Northern Europe are sorting their paperwork.

Book your cita previa online at sede.dgt.gob.es or by calling 060. In Girona, expect a wait of two to four weeks for a standard appointment slot in quieter periods, and up to six weeks between March and June (Source: RelocateIQ research). Book as early as possible — once you have a confirmed appointment within the legal window, you can continue driving on your UK licence while you wait, even if the six-month deadline has technically passed, provided you carry proof of the booking.

The staff at the Girona office are professional but the working language is Catalan first, Spanish second. Bring someone who speaks Spanish if your own level is not functional. Do not assume the form-filling process will be self-explanatory in English.

The medical certificate and where to get it in Girona

Before your DGT appointment, you need a psychophysical aptitude certificate from an authorised Centro de Reconocimiento de Conductores. This is not a GP appointment. It is a standardised test covering vision, hearing, reaction time, and basic cognitive function, run by specialist clinics authorised by the DGT.

In Girona, authorised CRC clinics operate in and around the city. Centre Mèdic Girona on Carrer de la Rutlla and Reconocimientos Girona near the Eixample district are among the options used by expats (Source: RelocateIQ research). The test takes fifteen to thirty minutes. Bring your corrective lenses if you wear them. The certificate costs €30–50 depending on the clinic and is valid for three months — do not get it too far in advance of your DGT appointment or you will need to repeat it.

Walk-in appointments are possible at most CRC clinics in Girona, but booking ahead saves time, particularly on weekday mornings when local driving school students tend to fill the slots.

What it costs

Costs involved in exchanging a UK driving licence in Girona

The DGT fee of €28.87 is fixed nationally (overseascompass.com). The medical certificate is the one cost that varies meaningfully in Girona — clinics in the city centre tend to charge toward the upper end of the €30–50 range, while those in the Eixample or just outside the old town are often cheaper. The gestor fee is the variable that most people underestimate. In a city where administrative processes run in Catalan and Spanish, and where a single missing document means rebooking an appointment weeks away, paying a gestor €100–150 to handle the submission electronically is often the most cost-effective decision you will make. Girona's cost of living being 40% cheaper than London (Source: Numbeo, early 2026) means these fees land proportionally lighter than they would feel at home — but they are still real costs to budget for before you start.

Step by step — how to do it in Girona

Step 1 — Confirm your residency status and six-month window

Your six-month clock starts from the date your residency is formally established — the date on your TIE card or your EU green certificate, not the date you arrived in Girona. If you are still waiting for your TIE, which can take three to six months to process through Girona's police immigration office on Carrer dels Jocs Olímpics, your licence exchange clock has not started yet. Confirm your residency start date before calculating your deadline. Do not assume it is the date you moved into your flat.

Step 2 — Book your CRC medical appointment in Girona

Identify an authorised CRC clinic in Girona — Centre Mèdic Girona on Carrer de la Rutlla is a reliable option used by expats in the city (Source: RelocateIQ research). Book ahead rather than walking in, particularly if you are working toward a specific DGT appointment date. The certificate is valid for three months, so time it to arrive roughly four to six weeks before your DGT slot. Bring your glasses or contact lenses, your NIE, and your passport.

Step 3 — Gather your documents before booking the DGT appointment

You need: your original DVLA licence (the plastic card — this will be surrendered permanently), your TIE or EU green certificate, your valid passport plus a photocopy, your empadronamiento certificate from Girona's town hall confirming your registered address, two passport photographs at 32×26mm on a plain background, your CRC medical certificate, and the completed DGT application form downloaded from sede.dgt.gob.es. If your DVLA licence format is not immediately legible to the DGT officer, a sworn translation may be requested — budget for this possibility (thinkspain.com).

Step 4 — Book your cita previa at the Girona DGT office

Go to sede.dgt.gob.es, select the Girona Jefatura Provincial, choose Canjes under the area options, and select the UK as the country of issue. Appointment availability in Girona runs two to six weeks out depending on the time of year (Source: RelocateIQ research). Set a calendar reminder to check for cancellations — slots do open up. Once your appointment is confirmed, you can continue driving legally on your UK licence while you wait, even past the six-month deadline, as long as you carry proof of the booked appointment.

Step 5 — Attend your appointment at Carrer dels Jocs Olímpics

Arrive with every document in the list from Step 3 — originals and photocopies. The DGT officer will verify your documents, take your DVLA licence, and issue a provisional paper licence valid for three months. This A4 document is your legal authorisation to drive in Spain while your plastic Spanish licence is processed. Keep it with you every time you drive. Do not leave it at home.

Step 6 — Receive your Spanish licence by post

Your Spanish driving licence will arrive at your registered Girona address by post, typically within four to eight weeks of your appointment (guides.waypointsur.com). Make sure your empadronamiento address is current and that you have a reliable letterbox. If you move between your appointment and the licence arriving, notify the DGT immediately via sede.dgt.gob.es. A licence sent to a previous address and not collected creates a bureaucratic problem that takes weeks to resolve.

What people get wrong

Assuming the six-month clock starts on arrival in Girona

The most common and costly mistake is miscounting the deadline. UK nationals arriving in Girona often assume their six months begins the day they land or the day they sign a rental contract. It begins on the date your legal residency is formally established — the date recorded on your TIE or green certificate. Since TIE processing in Girona takes three to six months after application, many people find their actual deadline arrives much later than expected, but some find it arrives sooner if their residency was backdated. Check the date on your residency document and count from there. Not from your flight.

Treating the Girona DGT office like a walk-in service

The Jefatura Provincial de Trànsit de Girona does not accept walk-ins for licence exchange. Every step requires a booked appointment, and appointments in Girona are not available on short notice. People who leave the exchange until the final weeks of their six-month window and then discover the next available slot is five weeks away face a genuine legal problem — they cannot drive legally in the interim. The solution is to start the process at month three, not month five. Book the CRC medical, gather the documents, and get an appointment confirmed well before the deadline. If your appointment falls after the deadline, carry proof of the booking at all times when driving.

Underestimating the language barrier at the Girona office

Girona is a Catalan-speaking city. The DGT office on Carrer dels Jocs Olímpics operates in Catalan and Spanish. Forms are in Spanish. Officers will not switch to English. This is not a complaint about the office — it is simply the reality of a regional administrative centre in Catalonia. UK nationals who arrive for their appointment without functional Spanish and without a Spanish-speaking companion risk being unable to complete the process on the day, which means rebooking weeks later. If your Spanish is not solid, bring someone who can translate, or use a gestor who will handle the submission electronically and attend on your behalf.

Who can help

For the licence exchange specifically, a gestor is the most practical option in Girona. A gestor is a licensed administrative professional who handles official paperwork on your behalf — they have DGT system access, know the current document requirements, and can submit your application electronically without you needing to attend the office in person. This matters in Girona because the office is not centrally located, appointment availability is limited, and a single document error means starting the queue again.

Gestorías operating in Girona include Gestoria Oliveras, which has experience with expat administrative processes and is based in the city centre, and Gestoria Masó, which handles DGT procedures alongside broader residency and tax administration (Source: RelocateIQ research). Fees for a licence exchange typically run €100–200 in Girona, on top of the DGT and medical costs. For something where a missed deadline means you cannot legally drive, that fee is reasonable.

For the CRC medical, no professional intermediary is needed — book directly with an authorised clinic. For broader residency questions that intersect with your licence timeline, Girona Relocation is a local service that assists newcomers with TIE paperwork and administrative navigation, which can help you establish your residency start date accurately and plan the licence exchange accordingly.

Immigration lawyers in Girona, including those at Bufet Colomer on Carrer de la Força in the old town, can advise on residency status questions if your situation is not straightforward.

Frequently asked questions

Is my UK driving licence valid in Girona?

Yes, your UK driving licence is valid in Girona — but only for a defined period after you become a legal resident. The UK has a bilateral exchange agreement with Spain, which means UK licence holders are treated differently from US or Australian nationals, who must take the full Spanish driving test (overseascompass.com). You have six months from the date your Spanish residency is formally established to exchange your DVLA licence for a Spanish one.

That six-month window is counted from the date on your TIE card or EU green certificate — not from the date you arrived in Girona or signed a lease. After six months, your UK licence is no longer legally valid for driving as a resident in Spain, and you cannot drive until the exchange is completed.

If you have a confirmed DGT appointment booked within the legal window, you can continue driving past the deadline while you wait for the appointment, provided you carry proof of the booking. This is a practical protection worth knowing about given that appointment availability at the Girona DGT office can run several weeks out.

How do I exchange my UK driving licence for a Spanish one?

The exchange process in Girona runs through the Jefatura Provincial de Trànsit on Carrer dels Jocs Olímpics. You book a cita previa online at sede.dgt.gob.es, attend in person with your documents, surrender your DVLA licence, and receive a provisional paper licence while your Spanish card is processed. The documents required are: your original DVLA plastic card, your TIE or residency certificate, your passport and a photocopy, your empadronamiento from Girona's town hall, two passport photographs at 32×26mm, a psychophysical medical certificate from an authorised CRC clinic in Girona, and the completed DGT application form (thinkspain.com).

No theory or practical driving test is required for UK nationals — this is the benefit of the bilateral agreement. The medical certificate is mandatory and must be obtained from a DGT-authorised CRC clinic before your appointment. Centre Mèdic Girona on Carrer de la Rutlla is one option used by expats in the city (Source: RelocateIQ research).

If your Spanish is not functional, consider using a gestor to handle the submission electronically. Gestorías in Girona such as Gestoria Oliveras can manage the process on your behalf, which removes the language barrier at the office and reduces the risk of a document error causing a rebooking delay.

How long does the UK to Spanish licence exchange take?

From the moment you begin gathering documents to having a plastic Spanish licence in your wallet, budget two to three months in Girona under normal conditions. The CRC medical can be done within a week if you book promptly. The DGT appointment in Girona typically runs two to six weeks out from booking, with longer waits between March and June when new arrivals are processing their paperwork (Source: RelocateIQ research).

Once your appointment has taken place and the DGT accepts your application, you receive a provisional paper licence valid for three months. Your plastic Spanish licence then arrives by post within four to eight weeks (guides.waypointsur.com). The total timeline is therefore roughly six to twelve weeks from appointment to card, and ten to fourteen weeks from starting the process.

The practical implication is that you should begin the exchange at month three of your residency, not month five. Starting late in Girona, where appointment slots are not always immediately available, risks running out of legal driving time before the process completes.

What are the main driving rules that differ from the UK in Spain?

The most immediately disorienting difference for UK drivers in Girona is driving on the right — which sounds obvious but requires active attention at roundabouts and when pulling out of side streets, particularly in the narrow lanes of Girona's old town where the road layout does not always give clear directional cues. At roundabouts, vehicles already on the roundabout have priority, which is the same as the UK — but the exit signalling convention differs, and Spanish drivers expect you to indicate right when leaving (overseascompass.com).

Speed limits in urban areas are 50 km/h on multi-lane roads and 30 km/h on single-lane streets — Girona's historic centre has extensive 30 km/h zones, and the city introduced a low emission zone (ZBE) in September 2025 covering the city centre (guidetogirona.com). Only electric vehicles and ECO-rated hybrids may enter the ZBE freely; Etiqueta C vehicles (most modern petrol and diesel cars) are restricted unless you are a registered resident of the zone. Check your vehicle's DGT environmental rating at zbe.cat before driving into central Girona.

The alcohol limit is 0.5g/l blood for standard drivers — lower than the Scottish limit and equivalent to the English limit, but Spanish enforcement is active and the practical advice is not to drink at all if you are driving. You must also carry two reflective vests inside the cabin (not the boot) and a V-16 connected beacon for breakdowns, which replaced the mandatory warning triangle for resident vehicles from January 2026 (overseascompass.com).

Do I need Spanish car insurance if I have UK insurance?

Yes. Once you are a Spanish resident and your vehicle is registered in Spain, you need Spanish car insurance. UK insurance policies do not cover Spanish-registered vehicles, and driving a Spanish-registered car on UK insurance is not legal. The minimum required is third-party liability (seguro a terceros), which covers damage and injury you cause to others.

If you are in the early months of residency and still driving a UK-registered vehicle, your UK insurance may provide cover in Spain — check your policy for the specific terms, as many UK policies provide only third-party cover abroad rather than the comprehensive cover you may have at home. This is a temporary position only; once you register your vehicle in Spain, you need a Spanish policy.

Major insurers operating in Spain include MAPFRE, Línea Directa, and AXA, all of which have Spanish-language online quote processes. For UK nationals in Girona who want English-language support, brokers with expat experience can arrange policies and explain the terms clearly. Comparison sites including Rastreator.com allow you to compare quotes, though the interface is in Spanish.

What is the Spanish approach to speeding and traffic enforcement?

Spain's enforcement infrastructure is extensive and increasingly automated. Fixed speed cameras (radares) are common on the main roads in and around Girona, including the AP-7 motorway and the N-II national road. Section cameras — which measure your average speed between two fixed points rather than your speed at a single moment — are increasingly deployed on Spanish roads and are harder to game than point cameras (overseascompass.com).

In Girona specifically, the Servei Català de Trànsit (the Catalan traffic authority, separate from the national DGT) issues fines for speed violations caught on Catalan roads. If a camera catches you, you receive a letter at your registered address. Paying within twenty days gives you a 50% reduction on the fine (guidetogirona.com). The easiest way to pay is via the Trànsit app, which allows you to scan the QR code on the letter directly. Do not ignore these letters — unpaid fines accumulate and can complicate your residency administration.

Radar detectors are illegal in Spain and carry a €200 fine with confiscation of the device. GPS apps such as Waze and Google Maps that show camera locations are legal and widely used. The practical advice for driving in and around Girona is to set your cruise control to the limit and treat every stretch of road as potentially monitored — because increasingly, it is.

Can I drive in Girona with an international driving permit?

An International Driving Permit (IDP) is not a standalone document — it is a translation supplement that accompanies your original licence, not a replacement for it. For UK nationals in Girona, an IDP is relevant only in the early period before your residency is formally established, or as a supporting document if your DVLA licence format is not immediately legible to a Spanish police officer or DGT official.

Once you are a legal resident in Spain, the six-month exchange window applies regardless of whether you hold an IDP. An IDP does not extend your right to drive on a UK licence beyond the six-month residency deadline — it simply makes your existing licence more legible. After six months of residency, you need a Spanish licence, full stop.

If you are in Girona as a visitor rather than a resident — spending time here without formal residency — your UK licence remains valid for the duration of your stay, and an IDP is useful to carry as a precaution. The distinction between visitor and resident is the critical variable, and it is determined by your formal residency status, not by how many days you have spent in the city.

What should I do if I am stopped by police while driving in Girona?

Pull over calmly and safely. In Girona you may be stopped by the Mossos d'Esquadra (the Catalan regional police), the Policia Municipal (local city police), or the Guardia Civil on roads outside the urban area. All three have authority to conduct traffic stops and request documentation. The Mossos d'Esquadra are the most commonly encountered on Girona's roads and operate in Catalan and Spanish.

You are required to present your driving licence, vehicle registration (permiso de circulación), and proof of insurance. If you are still driving on your UK licence within the legal window, carry it along with your TIE or residency certificate and, if you have one booked, proof of your DGT cita previa. Officers may not be familiar with every foreign licence format — staying calm and presenting documents clearly goes a long way. Do not reach into the glove compartment without indicating to the officer what you are doing.

If you are asked to take a breath test, comply. Refusing a breath test is a criminal offence in Spain, not a civil one, and carries more serious consequences than a positive result at the lower end of the scale. If you receive a fine at the roadside, you will typically be given a boletín de denuncia — a formal notice — rather than being required to pay on the spot. Keep the document, note the deadline for payment or appeal, and deal with it promptly. Unpaid roadside fines in Girona, as elsewhere in Catalonia, are tracked and will surface when you least want them to.