Keeping Irish Registered Car in UK

I met an Irish guy in Spain that bought a house there a few years ago and has been living in it permanently since then (ie. it's his only house and not a holiday home). He has an Irish registered car that he had transported over and has been driving it around his area in Spain without any issue. Despite now being a Spanish resident and owning a home there he has chosen to keep his Irish registered car.

I met another Irish guy who has been there for well over a year driving a UK registered car - again, seemingly without issue.

I wanted to ask both of these about their insurance policies and how they work but they're acquaintances I met through colleagues in work so it wasn't appropriate. In some parts of Spain there are tons of foreign registered cars there on a long-term basis so I think there must be some legitimate way to insure an Irish or UK registered car while living there.

If you end up with a member of "Traffico" that checks your NCT status online you better be fluent in Spanish to make your excuse 😎. Why would you expect not to be fined if you're tax domiciled there ?

Firstly, there is a question as to whether you will in fact be resident in Spain. The legislation here presumably reflects EU directives and going somewhere for a big year intending to return may not make you resident if your personal ties remain in Ireland. If you remain normally resident in Ireland then you can drive the car on Irish plates. That doesn't solve your insurance problem though.

Maybe just export it to the UK and register it there and let the daughter use it, you'll still be down but at least someone in the family will benefit.

Unfortunately Spanish residency does not come into this and the 6 month period will not increase to the period during which the OP is not Spanish resident. The exemption from Psanish registration and any other motor taxes extends only to 6 months in any year predicated upon NOT being Spanish resident. That is why, for example, and Irish resident with a holiday home in Spain could not leave an Irish registered car there indefinitely while (s)he remains resident in Ireland and travels there for less than 6 months of the year.

The imposition of a requirement to register and pay relevant tax on an immediate basis would be an undue restriction on the freedom of movement granted under the EV Treaties. The period chosen (in 1998) was six months although this can be extended to 9 months if the person is working in Spain (while remaining resident in Ireland).

The OP’s case just doesn’t seem to fit those facts. I had a similar position back 15 years ago when I spent most weekends in Dublin (plus longer periods) while living in London. At the outset, I was very conscious of the six months and, as I had two cars, I would swap them. Realistically, I always kept a copy of a U.K. electricity bill in the car to show that I was UK resident.

Ironically, the only time I was stopped by the guards was shortly after moving to Ireland permanenney and on my way to NCT centre for the VRT exemption.

For the OP, it could work in Spain - I spend a lot of time in Portugal and there are lots of permanent/semi-permanent foreign registered cars (ones which don’t travel back every six months). I would not like to get caught up in The bureaucracy. RHD is also a pain for car parks and stuff and I don’t know what charging accessibility is with a foreign-registered cars - is there a tourist premium they’d have to pay.

once you go over 90 days in any EU member state you need to complete the local formalities - it’s just that there are none in Ireland. For Spain, you will need to establish that you have work or funds to independently support yourself and, of course, surrender yourself to the local bureaucratic requirements. It’s just a right to continue residing rather than making you a resident, per se.

A person recently arrived Spain would not be resident immediately in Spain in that sense. Someone might spend a couple of months in Spain and then go to France. There is no mention of the OP taking up employment, there are choosing to live in Spain for a while. In that first 6 months there would be no problem in them going anyway.

unless it’s unlikely that the Spanish reg process was going to take more than six months, I don’t see what advantage to the hop, skip and jump. The requirement that the Spanish formalities “must have already started” would seem to rule out any advantage unless these take months.

Jesus, a fiver per day is below my expected look of a tenner a day! Will they get you in rental of the tolltag or anything?

sounds great. I signed up for Bipngo for France, Spain, Portugal as the “no toll” routes from French ferry ports down were just awful. Wouldn’t work for a hire car and if you’re just staying around the area it would not matter. Over 12 months, I could see you heading Cordova, Seville, Cadiz etc and toll roads might be more prevalent.