Hi Rustyrider, Moved this away from the TAX DISC thread. The Spanish have now changed the law it is now 3 months from when the vechicle first enters the country, this maybe in contrevention with EU law but this is what they are enforcing.
If you have spanish residencia you are legally required to transfer the bike /car to spanish register otherwise the Traffico will and can confiscate the vechicle. Actually this is not a new law , it has been around for sometime.It was announced earlier this year that it was going to be more rigidly enforced. The reason they are pursuing foreign reg vechicles is a lot of people are NOT doing as you say and getting the vechicle back to the UK and getting the MOT or road tax. So if the vechicle has not got a valid MOT or road tax it is not insured. I know you can put a UK vechicle through an ITV(MOT) here in Spain on Brit plates but the certificate is not worth the paper it is written on, also you can insure a UK vechicle out here but if you are stopped the Guadia Civil will not recognise the ITV cert as it is not a Spanish reg vechicle therefore they will say the vechicle is not insured.
I am speaking from expeirence here I got stopped by the Guadia Civil on a spot check coming off the AP7 two months back.He asked for an address in Spain as I said I lived here,should have kept me gob shut, entered the details on a computer and pulled up my NIE Number and Residencia number. He issued me with a notification to apply for spanish registration within 3 months of receiving this directive. I pointed out that the bike was insured , had a valid tax disc &MOT. He asked for my licence and pointed out that I was still using a UK licence and as a spanish resident I should also have applied for a spanish licence. I pointed out that my licence had the EU symbol on the front. He looked at the licence and the address on the licence, then looked at the copy of V5 log book(keep that +copy of MOT&insurance cover note under the seat) he pointed out that the address on the log book did not tally with the address on the UK licence, bike was registered at my brothers address , my UK property is rented out. I was lucky with this Guadia, he pointed out that if he really wanted to push it he could inform the DVLA that I was not living at the address on my licence(£1000.00 fine in the UK for failure to notify a change of address) I took the directive he issued me got on the bike and buggered off home. I went to a Gestor and we did the paper work. Cost for registering on Spanish plates €918.00, new headlight €425.00 a very very expensive process, thank god I got the FZ1 at a give away price.
In the process of getting a new spanish licence, which does seem to be taking sometime to come through???