Yes: if you move, you must give Tráfico your new address within 15 days, both as a driver (article 10 of the General Drivers Regulation) and as the registered keeper of each vehicle in your name (article 30.2 of the General Vehicles Regulation). It is free and can be done on the DGT online office, the miDGT app, by calling 060 or in person with an appointment. If not, notices keep going to your old address and, when nobody is found, they are published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) and treated as served after 20 calendar days (article 91 of the Spanish Traffic Act).
In this article
What the rules say and how long you have
Anyone with a driving licence or a car in their name must give the DGT their address, which it uses for every notice (article 60.1 of the Traffic Act). The regulations set the deadline:
- As a driver. Any change to the details on your licence, and any change of the holder's address, must be reported to the Provincial Traffic Office within 15 days (article 10 of the General Drivers Regulation).
- As a vehicle keeper. Any change to the details held in the Vehicle Register must be reported within 15 days (article 30.2 of the General Vehicles Regulation). The car's address is one of those details.
These are two separate addresses: your address for notices, which follows you, and the tax address of each vehicle. The DGT asks you to change both, and it is done in the same service.
And if you do not? The Act does not class this as a serious offence, so it would be a minor one (article 75.c), with a fine of up to 100 euros (article 80.1). The real risk is everything that stops reaching you.
Is registering on the padrón enough?
Do not count on it. The Act allows town halls and the Tax Agency to pass on new addresses they know about to the DGT (article 60.1), but it says "may", not "must". The DGT itself asks you to report the change within 15 days.
That said, the DGT checks your address against the padrón (the town hall residents' register held by the INE) and, if it is not updated yet, asks for a padrón certificate to change the car's address. So register on the padrón first, then tell Tráfico.
Some town halls have an agreement with the DGT and handle the change at their own counter: check the list of partner town halls on dgt.es.
How to do it for free
- DGT online office. With Cl@ve, a digital certificate or an electronic DNI. The change of address service lets you update your notice address and the tax address of all your vehicles at once. You download a receipt at the end.
- miDGT app. Under "Settings", "Personal details", "Notification address". You can change your vehicles' address from the app too.
- Phone 060. They check your identity with a few questions and compare the address with the padrón.
- In person. At any Traffic Office, such as the Valencia Provincial Traffic Office, with an appointment booked online or through 060, or at your town hall if it has an agreement. Bring the official form filled in and an identity document (DNI, Spanish driving licence, residence card, or passport with your NIE).
What it costs: nothing. According to the DGT online office, both changes are free. You do not get a new licence; only if your registration certificate is an old-format one with the address printed on it is a new one issued, also free. The only fee applies to vehicles brought from the Canary Islands, Ceuta or Melilla to the mainland or the Balearics: fee 4.1, 8.67 euros.
The Electronic Road Address (DEV): who must use it
The Dirección Electrónica Vial (DEV) is the DGT's electronic mailbox. Notices delivered there have the same legal effect as a paper letter. For individuals, self-employed people included, it is voluntary: you only get one if you ask (article 60.5). For companies and other legal entities it is compulsory and, since 1 November 2022, the DGT no longer sends them paper notices.
Once you sign up (with a digital certificate or electronic DNI), DGT fines reach you only there and you get an alert by email and text message. But if ten calendar days pass without you opening a notice, it is treated as refused and the procedure goes on (article 90.2). And bodies that have not joined the DEV will keep writing to you by post.
Why it matters: what happens when Tráfico cannot find you
The Traffic Act sets the order. First the DEV, if you have one. If not, the address you gave for that procedure and, failing that, the one in the DGT registers (article 90.1). If nobody takes the letter, a second attempt is made within three days. If that fails too, the notice is published in the BOE (article 90.3) and, after 20 calendar days, it counts as served (article 91). The Act also provides for TESTRA, the DGT's own board, as an optional prior channel (article 92); today the DGT publishes in the BOE's Single Edictal Board.
Your deadlines start running from that date. You have 20 calendar days to pay with the 50% reduction or to file a defence (articles 93.1 and 94). If you never find out, you lose both. How to search for published fines is in traffic fines you never received and the Edictal Board, and what to do while you are still in time is in how to appeal a traffic fine.
Road tax when you move to another town
Road tax (IVTM) is collected by the town hall of the address shown on the vehicle registration certificate (article 97 of the Local Finances Act). It falls due on 1 January and covers the whole year (article 96); moving does not entitle you to a pro rata refund.
If you move to Valencia in March, you pay that year to your previous town and Valencia City Council charges you the next, provided you have updated the car's tax address. If not, your old town hall keeps charging you.
Common mistakes
- Assuming the padrón is enough. The town hall may pass it on, but do not count on it.
- Changing only your licence address and forgetting the car's, or the other way round.
- Thinking a move within the same city does not count. The 15 days apply to any change of address.
If you are coming from abroad with a car or a foreign licence, the process is different: see moving to Valencia with your car and exchanging a foreign driving licence in Spain.
When to get help
With one car and Cl@ve you can do it yourself in five minutes. Get help if you have several vehicles or a company, if the car comes from the Canary Islands, Ceuta or Melilla, or if you have already had an asset seizure over a fine you never saw. We check which address Tráfico holds, bring it up to date and look for anything outstanding. You can book an appointment.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to change the address on my licence and my car when I move?
Yes. There are two steps: your notice address as a driver (article 10 of the General Drivers Regulation) and the tax address of each vehicle (article 30.2 of the General Vehicles Regulation). You have 15 days and both are done in the same DGT service.
How much does it cost to change my address with the DGT?
Nothing. It is free online, in the miDGT app, through 060 and in person. The only fee is 4.1, of 8.67 euros, for vehicles coming from the Canary Islands, Ceuta or Melilla to the mainland or the Balearics.
If I register on the padrón in Valencia, does Tráfico update automatically?
No, not necessarily. The Traffic Act allows the town hall to pass it on to the DGT (article 60.1) but does not require it. Report it yourself within 15 days.
Will I get a new driving licence with my new address?
No. Changing your address does not mean a new driving licence. A new vehicle registration certificate is only issued, free of charge, if your car's one is an old-format document with the address printed on it.
What happens if a fine is sent to my old address?
If nobody collects it after two attempts, it is published in the BOE and counts as served after 20 calendar days (articles 90.3 and 91 of the Traffic Act). From then on the deadlines to pay with the discount or file a defence run, even if you never knew.