anyone know where i can get detailed info on operating out of spain? (in english of coarse)
also read an article recently that stated as from a certain date any ec o’license would be valid in any ec country, can anyone confirm this, as i’ve lost the mag?
No idea on the first point.
On the second point, I’m a little confused. At the moment if you have an international licence you will have a community authorisation and will be able to undertake work throughout the EU anyway, which in effect means your O licence is valid in any EU country. Is it possibly the CPC that is going to be valid throughout the EU? know the UK CPC is valid in some other countries because I know a couple of Dutch OD’s who took the CPC in England as it is far easier, and can be obtained far quicker than the Dutch equivalent.
I believe the cost for a national and an international O licence are now the same, so as long as the CPC holder has the international part it is no more expensive to just have for an International licence.
i’m sure this article stated that an o’license is to be valid in any country from a certain date this year meaning you can actually operate and be based out of another ec country rather than just being legal to drive through it, if you know what i mean? as to say, you would no longer have to apply for say a spanish or french operators license if you resided there. but i can’t find anything on the net to clarify it.
real question is, if i was to do uk-spain could i reside in spain for the biggest part of the year?
If you are running UK - Spain, as long as you comply with your UK O Licence conditions regarding things such as maintenance, operating centre, etc it doesn’t matter where you live between trips as far as I can see.
if i was to do uk-spain could i reside in spain for the biggest part of the year?
Paul,
I don’t see why not, I know of a few people who are doing this, although you may have to be ‘flexible’ as to where the servicing is done, as I think Spain will be a lot cheaper.
Good luck
probably didn’t word my original question very well, i know i can operate out of the uk and spend the bigest part of my time in spain but this new regulation, as i understood it meant you could actually be based in another ec country regards o’center maintanence etc on a uk issued o’license based on the fact that haulage is supposedly now governed by the euro parliament so your license should be valid in any country in the ec regardless of where it was issued, simular to a euro driving license, i guess.
the problem with being uk based but residing in spain is that your liable for spanish income tax if you earn a living there for more than six months a year, at least thats how i read it but you’d also be liable for tax in the uk because your still running a uk based business.
I think I can see one thing against a UK Operators licence being valid Europe wide.
I think they are operating base specific, aren’t they? If you have an operators licence to operate out of Some Street in Anytown, UK, it is only for that address. If you move your yard for some reason, you have to get a new operators licence for your new address, don’t you?
If you mean an International CPC issued in the UK, I have no idea whether its valid elsewhere or not.
sort of, the o’license is yours but you have to have an approved operating center to use it, it’s no big deal to move o’centers especially if the new site is already established truck yard so i’d assume you apply for that change of center to the uk authorities even though it was going to be in spain and they’d then rely on their spanish counter parts to check things out? but as i say, i can’t find anything to clarify the above and when you weigh it up theres no real need to change your o’center as your at liberty to park up in spain for as long as you want as part of a trip and only return to your o’center when it suits you to do so.
could really do with speaking to someone who’s already doing it to find out the best way to go about it.
paul just pmd you , some one i know works and live in spain and just does the trip back to uk every six weeks for his inspection , his admin is done from his mothers house so all bases covered , and he has a permanent tan 
I dont know about operators licencing but one things for sure - regs are not applied anywhere near as strictly here in Spain (I live near Malaga). Its not unusual to see trucks thundering past you at 110 kmh, and the Guardia Trafico anrent so up their arses about hours regs and such. If you run out of malaga or somewhere on the western costa del sol its always possible to get a back load to UK out of Redwoods in Gibraltar - you can also fill up at the BP near Morrisons in Gib at about 43 pence per litre!! If you run a Brit truck get it transferred to Spanish plates and live life again!!