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.

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

Current system

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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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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.
 
Provincial alphanumeric registration plate from Girona with the EU strip.
 
Provincial alphanumeric registration plate of the last series ("ZX") from Madrid with the EU strip.
 Former provinces
Code Province Notes
A Alicante
ALB Albacete Used until 1926, replaced by AB.
AB Used since 1926.
AL Almería
AOE Africa Occidental Española Used until 1951, replaced by I and SHA.
AV Ávila
B Barcelona
BA Badajoz
BI Biscay BI stands for its capital Bilbao.
BU Burgos
C La Coruña
CA Cádiz
CAC Cáceres Used until 1926, replaced by CC.
CC Used since 1926.
CAS Castellón/Castelló Used until 1926, replaced by CS.
CS Used since 1926.
CE Ceuta Used since 1922.
CO Córdoba
CR Ciudad Real
CU Cuenca
FP Fernando Poo Used from 1961 until 1969.
GC Las Palmas GC stands for Gran Canaria.
Used since 1926.
GE Gerona/Girona Used until 1992, replaced by GI.
GI Used since 1992.
GR Granada
GU Guadalajara
H Huelva
HU Huesca
I Ifni Used from 1951 until 1961, replaced by IF.
IF Used from 1961 until 1969.
PM Islas Baleares PM stands for its capital Palma de Mallorca.
Used until 1997, replaced by IB.
IB Used since 1997.
J Jaén
L Lérida/Lleida
LE León
LO La Rioja LO stands for Logroño, its former name after its capital.
LR Replaced LO, but was not used.
LU Lugo
M Madrid
MA Málaga
ME Marruecos Español Used for Ceuta and Melilla, replaced by CE and ML in 1922.
ML Melilla
MU Murcia
O Asturias O stands for Oviedo, its former name after its capital.
OR Orense/Ourense Used until 1998, replaced by OU.
OU Used since 1998.
P Palencia
PA Navarre PA stands for its capital Pamplona.
Used until 1918, replaced by NA.
NA Used since 1918.
PO Pontevedra
RM Río Muni Used from 1961 until 1969.
S Cantabria S stands for Santander, its former name after its capital.
SA Salamanca
SE Sevilla
SEG Segovia Used until 1926, replaced by SG.
SG Used since 1926.
SHA Sáhara Used from 1951 until 1961, replaced by SH.
SH Used since 1961 until 1976.
SO Soria
SS Gipuzkoa SS stands for its capital Donostia/San Sebastián.
T Tarragona
TE Canarias TE stands for Tenerife.
Used until 1926, replaced by GC and TF.
TER Teruel Used until 1926, replaced by TE.
TE Used since 1926.
TEG Territorio Español de Guinea Used until 1926, replaced by TG.
TG Used since 1926, replaced by FP and RM in 1961.
TF Santa Cruz de Tenerife TF stands for Tenerife.
Used since 1926.
TO Toledo
V Valencia
VA Valladolid
VI Álava VI stands for its capital Vitoria-Gasteiz.
Z Zaragoza
ZA Zamora

Special plates

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Commercial Vehicles

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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

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

 
Mossos d'Esquadra police plate
 
Ertzaintza police plate
Code Organization Meanings Notes
CME Cos dels Mossos d'Esquadra Autonomous police force of Catalonia
DGP Dirección General de la Policía Spanish National Police
CNP Cuerpo Nacional de Policía Spanish National Police Since 2008
E Ertzaintza Autonomous police force of the Basque Country The E on the plate is in a special Basque font.
EA Ejército del Aire Spanish Air Force
ET Ejército de Tierra Spanish Army
FAE Fuerzas Aliadas en España Allied NATO Forces in Spain
FN Fuerzas Navales / Armada Spanish Navy
PGC Parque de la Guardia Civil Fleet of the Spanish civil guard These are a militarized police force similar to French Gendarmerie nationale or Italian Corpo dei Carabinieri.
MF Ministerio de Fomento Ministry of Public Works No correlation with MOP.
MMA Ministerio de Medio Ambiente Ministry of Environment
MOP Ministerio de Obras Públicas Ministry of Public Works Now replaced by MF.
PME Parque Móvil del Estado State owned vehicles
PMM Parque Móvil del Ministerio State owned vehicles, on a Ministry Now 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.

Diplomatic plates

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Diplomatic registration plates from Spain
Diplomatic cars
Consular cars
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

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

Colour plates

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Historical plate
 
Provisional plate
 
Temporary plate
 
Trailer plate
 
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.

Code Signified as Color
C Mopeds and microcars Black on yellow
E Special (agricultural, heavy machinery...) Red on white
H Historical Black on white
P Provisional White on green
R Trailers Black on red
S Temporary plates White on red
T Tourist plates Black on white
V Vehicle dealers White on red
Taxicabs White on blue

Diplomatic codes[6][7]

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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.

Code Country or Organization Code Country or Organization Code Country or Organization Code Country or Organization
1   Vatican City (Holy See) 35   Equatorial Guinea 69   Sweden 144   Ukraine
2   Germany 36   Haiti 70   Switzerland 145   North Macedonia
3   Saudi Arabia 37   Honduras 71   Thailand 148   Estonia
4   Algeria 38   Hungary 72   Tunisia 150 International Olive Council
5   Argentina 39   India 73   Turkey 151 ?
6   Australia 40   Indonesia 74   Russia 152   World Tourism Organization
7   Austria 41   Iraq 75   Uruguay 153   European Commission/European Parliament
8   Belgium 42   Iran 76   Venezuela 154 ?
9   Bolivia 43   Ireland 77   Serbia 155   Arab League
10   Brazil 44   Italy 78   Democratic Republic of the Congo 156 ?
11   Bulgaria 45   Japan 80   Slovakia 157 Ibero-American General Secretariat
12   Cameroon 46   Jordan 81   Qatar 159   International Labour Organization
13   Canada 47   Kuwait 82   Croatia 160 International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas
14   Colombia 48   Lebanon 83   Israel 163   United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
15   South Korea 49   Libya 84   Malaysia 164 Ibero-American Youth Organization
16   Ivory Coast 50   Morocco 85   Angola 165 ?
17   Costa Rica 51   Mauritania 86   Luxembourg 200   Palestine
18   Cuba 52   Mexico 88   Bangladesh 303   European Union Satellite Centre (EU SatCen)
19   Czech Republic 53   Nicaragua 93   Gambia 304   NATO
20   Chile 54   Nigeria 96   Guinea 310 Fusion for Energy (ITER)
21   China 55   Norway 101   Malta 311 Conference of Ministers of Justice of Ibero-American Countries?
22   Denmark 56 Sovereign Military Order of Malta 104   New Zealand 314   United Nations Information and Communications Technology Facility (UNICTF)
23   Ecuador 57   Netherlands 107   Senegal 400   Kenya
24   Egypt 58   Pakistan 118   Yemen 405   Sudan
25   El Salvador 59   Panama 122   Vietnam 406   Afghanistan
26   United Arab Emirates 60   Paraguay 124   Cape Verde 410   Moldova
27   United States 61   Peru 128   Albania 411   Mozambique
28   Philippines 62   Poland 131   Lithuania 414   Uzbekistan
29   Finland 63   Portugal 132   Latvia 415   Armenia
30   France 64   Kazakhstan 133   Slovenia 419   Azerbaijan
31   Gabon 65   Dominican Republic 135   Georgia
32   United Kingdom 66   Romania 140   Andorra
33   Greece 67   Syria 142   Bosnia and Herzegovina
34   Guatemala 68   South Africa 143   Ghana

References

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  1. ^ "Sitio de las Matrículas Españolas - Sistema Actual - Introducción".
  2. ^ "Sitio de las Matrículas Españolas - Sistema Provincial - Histórico".
  3. ^ supplier information
  4. ^ Rental agency image
  5. ^ "➤ Matriculas de España | Todo lo que necesitas saber 【2021】↓".
  6. ^ European License Plate Collectors' Association (members only)
  7. ^ Spanish diplomatic codes

Bibliography

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Castrillo, Carlos (2022). Matrículas de coches en España y en Europa (in Spanish). Grupo Editorial Círculo Rojo SL. p. 262. ISBN 9788411282055.

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