Vehicle registration plates of Spain


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.

Current system

They currently use the format L nnnn LLL where:
This format, introduced on 18 September 2000, 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 September 2019 the three-letter counter reached the L-series, which began with LBB. 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. 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.

History

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

1900 to 1971

The first system, introduced in 1900, consisted of a letter code denoting the province the vehicle was registered in, followed by a sequence number of up to six digits. The codes were normally made up of the first one or two letters of the province name or the name of the provincial capital, 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 sequience when deteriorated or lost.

1971 to 2000

The second system used the format XXX-NNNN-YY, where XXX was the province code or a one- two- or three-letter special code, NNNN was a sequence number from 0000 to 9999, 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, 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. 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 and PN. Also allowed were combinations with potential political connotations, such as HB and PP. Finally, some otherwise "forbidden" combinations were exceptionally used in a few particular cases, such as on some special types of cars.
This system lasted until September 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 the 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. There were also unsuccessful movements to have other province codes changed, such as replacing the Asturias code O 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". Unfortunately, the La Rioja code LO was finally slated for replacement with LR on the same day that the current system entered use.

Old provincial codes

CodeProvinceNotes
AAlicante
ALBAlbaceteUntil 1926, replaced by AB.
ABAlbaceteUsed since 1926.
ALAlmería
AOEAfrica Occidental EspañolaUntil 1951. Replaced by I and SHA
AVÁvila
BBarcelona
BABadajoz
BIBilbao
BUBurgos
CLa Coruña
CACádiz
CACCáceresUntil 1926, replaced by CC.
CCCáceresUsed since 1926.
CASCastellón de la Plana/Castelló de la PlanaUntil 1926, replaced by CS.
CSCastellón de la Plana/Castelló de la PlanaUsed since 1926.
CECeutaUsed since 1922.
COCórdoba
CRCiudad Real
CUCuenca
FPFernando Poo Used from 1961 until 1969.
GCLas Palmas Used since 1926.
GEGerona/GironaUntil 1992, replaced by GI.
GIGerona/GironaUsed since 1992.
GRGranada
GUGuadalajara
HHuelva
HUHuesca
IIfni Used from 1951 until 1961, replaced by IF.
IFIfni Used from 1961 until 1969.
PMPalma de Mallorca or Islas BalearesUntil 1997, replacement for IB.
IBPalma de Mallorca or Islas BalearesUsed since 1997.
JJaén
LLérida/Lleida
LELeón
LOLogroño
LRLogroño Replacement for LO, but never entered
LULugo
MMadrid
MAMálaga
MEMarruecos Español Used for Ceuta and Melilla, replaced by CE and ML in 1922
MLMelilla
MUMurcia
OOviedo
OROrense/OurenseUntil 1998, replaced by OU.
OUOrense/OurenseUsed since 1998.
PPalencia
PAPamplona Until 1918, replaced by NA.
NAPamplona Used from 1918.
POPontevedra
RMRío Muni 1961–1969
SSantander
SASalamanca
SESevilla
SEGSegoviaUntil 1926, replaced by SG
SGSegoviaSEG used until 1926, correlative
SHSahara Occidental the previous code was AOE, which stood for Africa Occidental Española. Discontinued 1976
SOSoria
SSDonostia/San Sebastián
TTarragona
TETerritorio Español used for Islas Canarias, replaced by GC and TF in 1926
TERTeruelUntil 1926, replaced by TE.
TETeruelUsed since 1926.
TEGTerritorio Español de GuineaUntil 1926, replaced by TG
TFSanta Cruz de Tenerifefrom 1926, one of two replacements for TE
TGTerritorio Español de Guinea TEG used until 1926, replaced by FP and RM in 1961
TOToledo
VValencia
VAValladolid
VIVitoria
ZZaragoza
ZAZamora

Special plates

State codes

These keep the old system of letter code plus numbers.
police plate
police plate
CodeOrganizationMeaningsNotes
CMECos dels Mossos d'EsquadraCorps of the Mossos d'EsquadraThe autonomous police force of Catalonia.
DGPDirección General de la PolicíaSpanish Police
CNPCuerpo Nacional de Policía Spanish Police
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
FAEFuerzas Aliadas en EspañaAllied Forces in SpainNATO Headquarters
FNFuerzas Navales / ArmadaSpanish Navy
PGCParque de la Guardia CivilSpanish civil guardThese are a militarized police force similar to French "Gendarmerie Française" or Italian "Corpo dei Carabinieri".
MFMinisterio de FomentoPublic Works MinistryNo correlation with MOP.
MMAMinisterio de Medio AmbienteEnvironment Ministry
MOPMinisterio de Obras PúblicasPublic Works MinistryNow replaced by MF.
PMEParque Móvil del EstadoState owned vehicles
PMMParque Móvil del MinisterioState owned vehicles, on a MinistryNow replaced by PME.
CrownVehiculo del ReyKing's CarThe car carrying the king in an official capacity has a crimson plate with the royal crown.

Diplomatic plates

Diplomatic plates are either red, green, yellow or blue and start with the letters "CD" for diplomatic cars, "CC" for consular cars, "TA" for ancillary workers' cars or "OI" 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

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.
CodeSignified asColor
CMopeds and microcarsBlack on yellow
ESpecial 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

Diplomatic codeshttp://www.europlate.org.uk [European License Plate Collectors' Association (members only)]http://matriculasdelmundo.com/espana.html#ECC Spanish diplomatic codes

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.
CodeCountry or OrganizationCodeCountry or OrganizationCodeCountry or OrganizationCodeCountry or Organization
01 3569144
023670145
033771148
043872150International Olive Council
053973151?
064074152 World Tourism Organization
074175153 European Commission/European Parliament
084276154?
094377155 Arab League
104478156?
114580157Ibero-American General Secretariat
124681159 International Labour Organization
134782160International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas
144883163United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
154984164Ibero-American Youth Organization
165085165?
175186200
185288303?
195393304 European Space Agency?
205496310?
2155101311Conference of Ministers of Justice of Ibero-American Countries?
2256Sovereign Military Order of Malta104400
2357107405
2458118406
2559122410
2660124411
2761128414
2862131415
2963132419
3064133--
3165135--
3266140--
3367142--
3468143--