Travel Question: Do I need to purchase a permit for driving in Spain?

Have a question? Ask our expert Simon Calder

UK driving licenses will be invalid in the EU if there’s a no-deal Brexit (iStock/Getty)

Q I am due to go to Spain on 10 April, returning on 22 April, and am hiring a car. The UK may leave the EU on 12 April (or it may not), but is it worth me getting a driving permit or gamble on not getting one? Also who will check I have one – will the rental car company want to see it?

Jerry K

A It is slightly surreal to be answering a question about Brexit five days before the UK’s possible departure from the European Union, and not to be able to give you a definitive answer.

At present the default is that the UK will leave without a deal at 11pm British time (midnight in mainland Spain and the Balearics). Your UK driving licence will cease to be valid. You will be legally obliged to produce the right International Driving Permit (1949 version for Spain, plus the 1968 version if you stray into France or Portugal).

If, by time you leave home to start your holiday, there is still no certainty, then I suggest you pick up the permit from the Post Office on your way to the airport. The transaction takes about 10 minutes and costs £5.50. You will need your UK driving licence and a passport photo. Of course, this may turn out to be a waste of time and money.

The car-rental agency could theoretically ask to see the IDP, though I sense that it will probably not. Only new rentals from 13 April are likely to have their documentation checked to ensure that they will be driven legally.

If Brexit is postponed once more, then the current rules apply; your licence will have the status of an EU motoring document, and will be valid for use across the European Union without further formality.

Every day our travel correspondent Simon Calder tackles a reader’s question. Just email yours to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder