NextSpring

Where your driving licence is recognised if your passport is from Spain

One question, every country, with your nationality already applied. In 4 of them something is written that changes the answer for you; in the other 28 the general rule is what you get, and that is the answer rather than a gap. Every line is that country’s own record.

Where it changes for you
4
Where it does not
28
Blocs you are in
1

Where your nationality changes the answer

ChileVerified with official sourceMonitor - can change2026-09-21

Spanish Licences: the DGT Confirms It, the Municipality Issues It

reaches you through a treaty with your country

The general rule it sits on

Chile exchanges or recognises foreign licences only where a treaty with the issuing country is in force, and the transport ministry names nine: Spain, South Korea, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Argentina, Japan, Paraguay and Bolivia. An agreement with Brazil has been signed and is not yet in force. The process is centralised online with the ministry, which verifies the licence with the issuing authority and then issues a certificate; the actual exchange happens at the traffic department of the municipality where you live. Several of the treaties require a Chilean identity card showing your nationality, so this is a resident's procedure, not a visitor's.

ParaguayVerified with official sourceMonitor - can change2026-09-21

Spanish Licences Can Be Exchanged

reaches you through a treaty with your country

The general rule it sits on

Driving licences in Paraguay are municipal, not national, so the answer depends on the municipality you live in - Asunción's rules are the ones set out here. A foreigner applies with a passport, a migration admission card, a certificate of life and residence, a blood group certificate and by passing the psychophysical, theory and practical tests; the applicant brings their own vehicle for the practical. A licence from your own country is asked for if you have one, and the municipality says the theory and practical tests are what you take if you do not. The only formal recognition arrangement we found is with Spain, under an agreement approved as Ley N° 3285/07, administered by the intermunicipal body OPACI rather than by any ministry.

PeruVerified with official sourceStable2026-09-21

Spanish Licences - No Written Test

reaches you through a treaty with your country

The general rule it sits on

Peru exchanges a foreign licence for a Peruvian one rather than recognising it indefinitely, and the exchange is not a formality: a medical and psychological assessment and a written rules test are both part of it. Three nationalities are excused the written test - Spain, Korea and Chile, on reciprocal recognition agreements. Your foreign licence must still be valid on the day you apply, which catches people who let it lapse while abroad.

UruguayVerified with official sourceMonitor - can change2026-09-27

Direct Exchange Under the Uruguay-Spain Agreement

reaches you through a treaty with your country

The general rule it sits on

Driving licences in Uruguay are a departmental matter, not a national one: you deal with the intendencia where you live, and the details can differ between departments. Whether you exchange your licence directly or sit exams depends entirely on whether your country has a convenio in force with Uruguay - and the list of countries that do is shorter than most people assume.

Where the general rule applies to you unchanged

Nothing is recorded in these that treats a citizen of Spain differently on this question, so what follows is what everyone gets.

Antigua and Barbuda

Driving in Antigua and Barbuda

Visitor's temporary driver's licence:
Up to 3 months
Driving test for a visitor:
May be waived
Resident's driving licence:
Valid 1 year
Argentina

Driving on a Foreign Licence

Basis:
Bilateral agreement with the issuing country
Recognition lapses after:
1 continuous year of stay
Professional and commercial licences:
Excluded
Barbados

Driving in Barbados on a Foreign Licence

What the Act requires:
A valid driving licence authorising you to drive that class of vehicle
Does a foreign licence count as a driving licence under the Act:
Yes, since the definition was substituted in 2017
Visitor Permit fee, stays under two months:
$10.00 BBD
Belize

Driving in Belize on a Foreign Licence

Driving on a valid foreign licence:
a period of twelve months from the date of his last entry into Belize
What restarts the twelve months:
Your last entry into Belize
Temporary driving licence for a bona fide visitor:
any period not exceeding three months
Bolivia

Driving and Licence Exchange

Licence validity for a resident foreigner:
The same as the foreigner's identity card
Minimum age:
18 for private and motorcycle, 21 for professional categories
Cost, most categories:
Bs 225
Brazil

Driving and Licence Exchange

Foreign licence valid for:
180 days
Counted from:
The date of entry into Brazilian territory
After 180 days, recognised licence:
Medical and psychological examinations
Colombia

Recognition of a Foreign Driving Licence

Who qualifies:
People born in a country with an agreement
Registration:
Fingerprint in the RUNT
Identity document:
Cédula de extranjería
Costa Rica

Your Foreign Licence Lasts Exactly as Long as Your Stay

How long a foreign licence is valid for:
A period identical to your authorised legal stay
Minimum uninterrupted stay before converting:
None
Who may convert:
Anyone with an approved migration status, or with an application pending
Cuba

Driving and Licence Exchange

Driving on a foreign licence:
6 months from entry, non-extendable
Categories covered:
A, A1 and B
After 6 months:
The Cuban national licence is necessary
Dominica

Driving in Dominica

Visitor's temporary driving licence:
Up to 3 months
International driving licence:
Exempts you while valid
Dominican international driving licence:
12 months from issue
Dominican Republic

Driving: One Article for Foreign Licences, and Nothing for Visitors

Foreign licence conversion:
For residents, while the foreign licence is valid
Visitors driving on a foreign licence:
Not addressed in the law
Licence validity:
4 years
Ecuador

Exchanging a Foreign Driving Licence

Cost:
USD 142, plus the bank's commission
Licence validity:
5 years
Shorter stays:
The licence is cut to the period authorised by the migration authorities
El Salvador

Driving on a Foreign Licence, and the Easiest Exchange in the Region

Driving on a foreign licence:
90 days maximum
What you may drive in that time:
Vehicles you own
Reporting on arrival:
Required, to the traffic directorate
Grenada

Driving in Grenada

Visitor's temporary licence:
Up to 3 months
Fee for the temporary licence:
Not stated in the Act
International driving licence:
Exempts you from holding a Grenadian licence
Guatemala

Driving in Guatemala

What is issued:
A permiso de conducir, not a licence
Available from:
While the temporary residence application is in process
Guarantor:
A Guatemalan by origin, guaranteeing no other foreigner
Guyana

Driving in Guyana on a Foreign Licence: Sixty Days, Then a Four-Week Permit

Driving on a foreign licence:
60 days after entry into Guyana
Instrument that allows it:
Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic (The Use of Foreign Issued Driver's Licence in Guyana) Regulations 2022
Effective from:
26 August 2022
Honduras

Driving in Honduras

Driving on a foreign licence as a visitor:
Allowed, subject to reciprocity
Driving on a foreign licence as a resident:
Not provided for
Exchange of a foreign licence:
No procedure in the traffic law
Jamaica

Driving in Jamaica

Driving on a foreign licence:
No provision for it in the Act in force
Age of the foreign licence that unlocks the exemption:
Issued not more than twelve months before
What the exemption does not cover:
The licensing fee
Mexico

Driving Licences in Mexico

National licence for a private car:
None - the states and Mexico City issue them
Validity of a state licence elsewhere in Mexico:
Full validity throughout the country
Maximum validity:
5 years in general; 2 years for emergency, medical, police and school transport vehicles
Nicaragua

Driving in Nicaragua

Driving on a foreign licence:
For as long as that licence is valid
What triggers the need for a Nicaraguan licence:
The foreign licence expiring, not a period of stay
Nicaraguan licence validity:
5 years
Panama

Driving in Panama

Driving as a tourist:
90 days on a foreign licence
Can a tourist get a Panamanian licence?:
No, expressly
Can a tourist get one by extending the stay?:
No
Saint Kitts and Nevis

Driving in Saint Kitts and Nevis

Visitor's temporary licence, maximum validity:
1 year
Fee for a visitor's temporary licence:
$50 for three months, $100 for one year
Driving test for a visitor:
At the officer's discretion
Saint Lucia

Driving in Saint Lucia

Visitor's driving permit:
Valid for not more than 3 months
Eastern Caribbean Protocol citizens:
No permit needed
Economic citizens of Protocol states:
Permit still needed
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Driving in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Temporary driver's permit:
EC$125.00
Validity:
6 months from the date of issue
One-year local driver's permit:
EC$125.00
Suriname

Driving: the Rijwet 1971 Governs It, and the Official Collection Does Not Publish It

Governing Act:
Rijwet 1971
Published in the National Assembly's collection:
No
Period a foreign licence may be used:
Not established
The Bahamas

Driving on a Foreign Licence: Three Months, Which Is Not the Eight Months Immigration Gives You

Foreign licence valid for:
A visit of not more than three months
Also required:
Not being employed in The Bahamas
Minimum age:
Seventeen, or fifteen for an excepted motor vehicle
Trinidad and Tobago

Driving in Trinidad and Tobago on a Foreign Licence

On an international driving permit:
While the permit remains valid, with no stated limit
On an ordinary foreign licence from a listed country:
3 months from the date of arrival
How the list is made:
By Notice of the Minister published in the Gazette
Venezuela

Driving in Venezuela

Issuing body:
Instituto Nacional de Transporte Terrestre
Terms on which a foreigner is licensed:
Delegated by the Act to its regulation
Medical certificate:
Required, issued free by the health ministry