Vehicle registration plates of Spain

Spain vehicle license plates From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Vehicle registration plates are the mandatory number plates used to display the registration mark of a vehicle, and have existed in Spain since 1900. Most motor vehicles which are used on public roads are required by law to display them. The government agency responsible for the registration and numbering of vehicles is the Directorate General of Traffic.

Quick Facts Country, Country code ...
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Spanish plates with format, 1234 ABC
Country Spain
Country codeE
Current series
Size520 mm × 110 mm
20.5 in × 4.3 in
Serial format1234 ABC
Colour (front)Black on white
Colour (rear)Black on white
Introduced2000
Availability
Issued byDirectorate General of Traffic
History
First issued1900
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Current system

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Perspective

Spain has finished using the L-series, the format of which was nnnn LLL where:

  • nnnn is a sequence number from 0000 to 9999,
  • LLL is a "counter" comprising three letters, which increments after the sequence number reaches 9999. The consonants B, C, D, F, G, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, R, S, T, V, W, X, Y and Z are used for a total of 80 million possible registrations in the system.
  • L see Colour plates. It is not used in private vehicles.

This format, introduced on 18 September 2000,[1] is used nationwide, so there is no way of knowing where the vehicle was registered. The "counter" gives a rough idea of when the vehicle was registered, but is less reliable for determining its age, as imported second-hand vehicles are registered in the same way as new models.

In August 2022 the three-letter counter reached the end of the L-series, and began the M-series, starting MBB. At the current rate of approximately five series per decade, the system will be exhausted around 2040.

The plates themselves are white with black characters, front and back, with a blue strip on the left containing the 12 stars of the flag of Europe and the country identifier E (for España). This strip is compulsory. The plates are usually rectangular and wide in shape, but there are also square-like plates for motorcycles, while some cars have a narrow plate inset (such as at the back of the SEAT 600).

History

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Perspective

Two previous systems have been used, both of which were province-based.

1900 to 1970

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Provincial numeric registration plate from Orense.

The first system, introduced in 1900,[2] consisted of a letter code denoting the province the vehicle was registered in (see below for the full list of codes), followed by a sequence number of up to six digits (XXX-NNNNNN). The codes were normally made up of the first one or two letters of the province name or the name of the provincial capital (many provinces are named after their capitals), under the provisions of a 1926 regulation. In the earliest days, some provinces used three-letter codes, but these were abolished after 1926.

This system came to an end in October 1971, by which time both Madrid and Barcelona were approaching the number 999999. Older vehicles with such registrations, usually with five- or six-digit numbers, can still be seen on Spanish roads.

In the later years of this system, many plates were white with black characters. Today, there are a few rare cases where the blue EU country identifier strip is also carried, as plates are reissued in new format but with the same number sequence when deteriorated or lost.

1970 to 2000

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Provincial alphanumeric registration plate from Pontevedra.

The second system used the format XXX-NNNN-YY, where XXX was the province code or a one- two- or three-letter special code (such as ET for army cars and DGP for police cars), NNNN was a sequence number from 0000 to 9999 (always four-digit numbers, padded with leading zeroes if necessary), and YY was a "counter" series consisting of one and then two letters, which incremented after the sequence number reached 9999.

No "counter" series used the consonants Q and R (and Q has never been allowed in any way, the apparent reason for this being its resemblance to the vowel O and the digit 0), while two-letter combinations ending in the vowels A, E, I and O were also forbidden, apparently to avoid the forming of potentially offensive Spanish words when combined with some province codes (such as MA-LA, meaning "bad one", or CU-LO, meaning "arse"). This meant that, for instance, Z was followed by AB, while AN was followed by AP and then AS, and PZ was followed by SB.

Other potentially offensive combinations, however, were allowed, such as KK (resembling caca, meaning "shit") and PN (resembling pene, meaning "penis"). Also allowed were combinations with potential political connotations, such as HB (cf. Herri Batasuna) and PP (cf. Partido Popular). The only combination that was actually skipped was WC in Madrid and Barcelona. Finally, some otherwise "forbidden" combinations (particularly those containing R or ending in one of the skipped vowels) were exceptionally used in a few particular cases, such as on some special types of cars (e.g. RA, RB... for some police cars, and EA for Spanish Air Force land vehicles).

This system lasted until January 2000, by which time Madrid was running out of registrations again, its "counter" reaching series ZX. Barcelona reached series XG, while the next province by registration volume, Valencia, was far behind at series HJ. Therefore, the allowed combinations ZY and ZZ were never issued in any province.

Under this system, plates usually consisted solely of black characters on white, though the blue EU country identifier strip became an option in the 1990s.

Both systems were susceptible to problems with rivalries between regions, that caused trouble for drivers travelling out of their provinces or trying to sell their vehicles second-hand. The second system was also affected when the major languages of Spain were co-officialized, with the renaming of some provinces resulting in mismatches between the name and the code. For instance, the GE code for Gerona became mismatched when that province was renamed Girona after Catalan became official, so it was replaced with the GI code. Similarly, the OR code for Orense was replaced with the OU code for Ourense (official Galician name for the province). There were also unsuccessful movements to have other province codes changed, such as replacing the Asturias code O (from its former name after its capital Oviedo) with AS, this movement being prompted by the rivalry between Oviedo and the province's largest city, Gijón, some of whose residents chose to register their vehicles in Girona, the GI code also being the first two letters of "Gijón". La Rioja code LO (from its former name after its capital Logroño) was finally slated for replacement with LR on the same day that the current system entered use.

Provincial codes

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Provincial alphanumeric registration plate from Alicante with the EU strip.
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Provincial alphanumeric registration plate from Girona with the EU strip.
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Provincial alphanumeric registration plate of the last series ("ZX") from Madrid with the EU strip.
 Former provinces
More information Code, Province ...
CodeProvinceNotes
AAlicante
ALB AlbaceteUsed until 1926, replaced by AB.
ABUsed since 1926.
ALAlmería
AOEAfrica Occidental EspañolaUsed until 1951, replaced by I and SHA.
AVÁvila
BBarcelona
BABadajoz
BIBiscayBI stands for its capital Bilbao.
BUBurgos
CLa Coruña
CACádiz
CACCáceresUsed until 1926, replaced by CC.
CCUsed since 1926.
CASCastellón/CastellóUsed until 1926, replaced by CS.
CSUsed since 1926.
CECeutaUsed since 1922.
COCórdoba
CRCiudad Real
CUCuenca
FPFernando PooUsed from 1961 until 1969.
GCLas PalmasGC stands for Gran Canaria.
Used since 1926.
GEGerona/GironaUsed until 1992, replaced by GI.
GIUsed since 1992.
GRGranada
GUGuadalajara
HHuelva
HUHuesca
IIfniUsed from 1951 until 1961, replaced by IF.
IFUsed from 1961 until 1969.
PMIslas BalearesPM stands for its capital Palma de Mallorca.
Used until 1997, replaced by IB.
IBUsed since 1997.
JJaén
LLérida/Lleida
LELeón
LOLa RiojaLO stands for Logroño, its former name after its capital.
LRReplaced LO, but was not used.
LULugo
MMadrid
MAMálaga
MEMarruecos EspañolUsed for Ceuta and Melilla, replaced by CE and ML in 1922.
MLMelilla
MUMurcia
OAsturiasO stands for Oviedo, its former name after its capital.
OROrense/OurenseUsed until 1998, replaced by OU.
OUUsed since 1998.
PPalencia
PA NavarrePA stands for its capital Pamplona.
Used until 1918, replaced by NA.
NAUsed since 1918.
POPontevedra
RMRío MuniUsed from 1961 until 1969.
SCantabriaS stands for Santander, its former name after its capital.
SASalamanca
SESevilla
SEGSegoviaUsed until 1926, replaced by SG.
SGUsed since 1926.
SHASáharaUsed from 1951 until 1961, replaced by SH.
SHUsed since 1961 until 1976.
SOSoria
SSGipuzkoaSS stands for its capital Donostia/San Sebastián.
TTarragona
TECanariasTE stands for Tenerife.
Used until 1926, replaced by GC and TF.
TER TeruelUsed until 1926, replaced by TE.
TEUsed since 1926.
TEGTerritorio Español de GuineaUsed until 1926, replaced by TG.
TGUsed since 1926, replaced by FP and RM in 1961.
TFSanta Cruz de TenerifeTF stands for Tenerife.
Used since 1926.
TOToledo
VValencia
VAValladolid
VIÁlavaVI stands for its capital Vitoria-Gasteiz.
ZZaragoza
ZAZamora
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Special plates

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Commercial Vehicles

To comply with Third-party insurance risks, vehicles carrying goods or persons not otherwise insured require a small white plate (150mm×75mm) with the letters SP (for servicio publico) in black. this is fixed near the rear numberplate[3]

Taxis and private hire (VTT) that have authorisation to operate display the rear plate with a blue background and an SP plate mentioned above [4] Vehicles without these markings are not legal for hire.

State codes

These keep the old system of letter code plus numbers.[5]

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Mossos d'Esquadra police plate
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Ertzaintza police plate
More information Code, Organization ...
CodeOrganizationMeaningsNotes
CMECos dels Mossos d'EsquadraAutonomous police force of Catalonia
DGPDirección General de la PolicíaSpanish National Police
CNPCuerpo Nacional de PolicíaSpanish National PoliceSince 2008
EErtzaintzaAutonomous police force of the Basque CountryThe E on the plate is in a special Basque font.
EAEjército del AireSpanish Air Force
ETEjército de TierraSpanish Army
FAE Fuerzas Aliadas en EspañaAllied NATO Forces in Spain
FNFuerzas Navales / ArmadaSpanish Navy
PGCParque de la Guardia CivilFleet of the Spanish civil guardThese are a militarized police force similar to French Gendarmerie nationale or Italian Corpo dei Carabinieri.
MFMinisterio de FomentoMinistry of Public WorksNo correlation with MOP.
MMAMinisterio de Medio AmbienteMinistry of Environment
MOPMinisterio de Obras PúblicasMinistry of Public WorksNow replaced by MF.
PMEParque Móvil del EstadoState owned vehicles
PMMParque Móvil del MinisterioState owned vehicles, on a MinistryNow replaced by PME.
Crown Vehículo de la Corona Crown's Car The car carrying the King in an official capacity has a crimson plate with the royal crown in gold. The car carrying the Princess of Asturias in an official capacity has a blue plate with the royal crown in gold.
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Diplomatic plates

Diplomatic registration plates from Spain
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Diplomatic cars
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Consular cars
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Cars belonging to international organizations

Diplomatic plates are either red, green, yellow or blue and start with the letters "CD" (red) for diplomatic cars, "CC" (green) for consular cars, "TA" (yellow) for ancillary workers' cars or "OI" (blue) for cars belonging to international organisations. The first set of numbers stands for the embassy or organisation and the second for the specific car from an organisation.

U.S. military

Up until 1972 U.S. Military personnel were required to have special plates.

Colour plates

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Historical plate
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Provisional plate
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Temporary plate
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Trailer plate
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Taxicab plate

There are other plates with different background colours for trailers and the so-called "tourist plates", provisory plates that allow foreigners to use a vehicle bought in Spain before registering it in their country. The trailer plates begin with the prefix R signifying remolque, the Spanish word for trailer, caravan or literally "on tow". The tourist plates begin with the prefix P signifying provisional, usually issued to vehicles for export or until the registration process has been completed. They are sometimes seen on manufacturer's prototypes. An additional series exists for historic vehicles with the prefix H followed by four numbers and four letters, making a nine digit plate which can be difficult to fit onto some historic vehicles. Mopeds and microcars with cylinders under 50 cc were not required to have a national plate and town and city administration tax them and issued their own yellow plates.

More information Code, Signified as ...
CodeSignified asColor
CMopeds and microcarsBlack on yellow
ESpecial (agricultural, heavy machinery...)Red on white
HHistoricalBlack on white
PProvisionalWhite on green
RTrailersBlack on red
STemporary platesWhite on red
TTourist platesBlack on white
VVehicle dealersWhite on red
TaxicabsWhite on blue
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Diplomatic codes[6][7]

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Perspective

This is a table of country codes on Spanish diplomatic and consular car number plates, i.e. the first group of two or three numbers and mainly sorted by Spanish alphabetical order.

More information Code, Country or Organization ...
CodeCountry or OrganizationCodeCountry or OrganizationCodeCountry or OrganizationCodeCountry or Organization
1 Vatican City (Holy See)35 Equatorial Guinea69 Sweden144 Ukraine
2 Germany36 Haiti70 Switzerland145 North Macedonia
3 Saudi Arabia37 Honduras71 Thailand148 Estonia
4 Algeria38 Hungary72 Tunisia150International Olive Council
5 Argentina39 India73 Turkey151 ?
6 Australia40 Indonesia74 Russia152United Nations World Tourism Organization
7 Austria41 Iraq75 Uruguay153European Union European Commission/European Parliament
8 Belgium42 Iran76 Venezuela154 ?
9 Bolivia43 Ireland77 Serbia155 Arab League
10 Brazil44 Italy78 Democratic Republic of the Congo156 ?
11 Bulgaria45 Japan80 Slovakia157Ibero-American General Secretariat
12 Cameroon46 Jordan81 Qatar159United Nations International Labour Organization
13 Canada47 Kuwait82 Croatia160International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas
14 Colombia48 Lebanon83 Israel163United Nations United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
15 South Korea49 Libya84 Malaysia164Ibero-American Youth Organization
16 Ivory Coast50 Morocco85 Angola165 ?
17 Costa Rica51 Mauritania86 Luxembourg200 Palestine
18 Cuba52 Mexico88 Bangladesh303European Union European Union Satellite Centre (EU SatCen)
19 Czech Republic53 Nicaragua93 Gambia304European Union NATO
20 Chile54 Nigeria96 Guinea310Fusion for Energy (ITER)
21 China55 Norway101 Malta311Conference of Ministers of Justice of Ibero-American Countries?
22  Denmark 56 Sovereign Military Order of Malta 104  New Zealand 314 United Nations United Nations Information and Communications Technology Facility (UNICTF)
23 Ecuador57 Netherlands107 Senegal400 Kenya
24 Egypt58 Pakistan118 Yemen405 Sudan
25 El Salvador59 Panama122 Vietnam406 Afghanistan
26 United Arab Emirates60 Paraguay124 Cape Verde410 Moldova
27 United States61 Peru128 Albania411 Mozambique
28 Philippines62 Poland131 Lithuania414 Uzbekistan
29 Finland63 Portugal132 Latvia415 Armenia
30 France64 Kazakhstan133 Slovenia419 Azerbaijan
31 Gabon65 Dominican Republic135 Georgia
32 United Kingdom66 Romania140 Andorra
33 Greece67 Syria142 Bosnia and Herzegovina
34 Guatemala68 South Africa143 Ghana
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References

Bibliography

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