In order to exchange your UK driving licence for a Spanish one, you’ll need to provide a Medical Certificate – this is NOT the same as the Medical Certificate for a first visa application.
The “Certificado de aptitud psicofísica” or psicotécnico is a Medical Certificate specifically for a driving licence exchange/application.
You’ll need to visit a recognised medical centre called a Centro de Reconocimiento de Conductores (Driver Recognition Centre) – not all medical centres can produce the relevant certificates.
You may need to make an appointment but some medical centres do walk-ins on specific days/times.
Here’s a link to a search facility on the DGT website where you can find the relevant centres for your area: HERE
The test assesses vision, hearing, coordination, and general health to confirm you are fit to drive and typically costs around €50 – be sure to tell the Medical Centre which categories you want to include on the licence exchange.
On passing the medical, the Clinic will give you a one page Certificate; take several copies/scans of this as you’ll be sending the original to Trafico for the renewal.
The medical certificate has a validity of 90 days so keep this in mind when putting your documents together.
Upsticks Top Tips
If you got your Medical Certificate for the visa application in Spain, it’s worth checking if the same clinic can do the licence exchange medical as well.
All the clinics will be privately owned – the public health system does not offer the psicotécnico tests.
Check that the medical certificate contains ALL catorgories that qualify to be exchanged
For the photos (you’ll need two – 32x26mm Spanish driving licence size) – don’t wear glasses or face coverings and use a professional photoshop rather than a kiosk, photobooth etc
Remember the temporary document you receive is NOT valid to drive outside of Spain or hire a car.
For a full rundown of the exchange process, check out this article
https://upsticks.es/exchanging-your-uk-driving-licence-all-you-need-to-know/