Importing a motorhome or caravan to Spain from the Netherlands

For a motorhome, export works just as it does for a car. We deregister it from the Dutch register; whoever the export is registered to receives the export certificate and the registration card with one corner cut off. If the motorhome is driven south, it needs export insurance with a Green Card, a valid APK (the Dutch roadworthiness test) and two white Dutch export plates.

For a motorhome over 2,500 kg, insurance and processing costs can be higher; the price is on request and always confirmed in advance. More about the cover is on export insurance.

When you buy a motorhome in the Netherlands, it is not transferred into your name in the Dutch register. The RDW advises that the buyer exports the vehicle in their own name: you receive the export certificate, the seller the indemnification certificate. Ask for the CoC before you buy, get an invoice showing the dealer's VAT number, or a purchase contract from a private seller that you can have translated into Spanish. If you cannot come to the Netherlands, a contact person there may arrange the export, according to the RDW.

With us, a caravan or trailer also receives export insurance. For the white plate, weight is what matters:

• Trailer up to 750 kg: in the Netherlands it has no registration of its own and carries the registration of the vehicle towing it (Rijksoverheid). For export we insure the trailer on its chassis number, and the white plate shows the towing vehicle's registration number.
• Caravan or trailer over 750 kg: it has its own registration. On export it receives export insurance and one white plate at the rear with that registration.

An APK is only required for a trailer or caravan above 3,500 kg. Caravan packages and trailers are priced individually; guide prices are on the cost of importing a car to Spain.

A motorhome has an engine, so it falls under the Spanish registration tax IEDMT. The law gives motorhomes (autocaravanas) an advantage: the taxable base is reduced by 30 percent. As with a car, the rate depends on official CO2 emissions: as standard 0 percent up to 120 g/km, rising to 14.75 percent from 200 g/km. Regions may set their own rates.

A lorry or van converted into living accommodation falls into the highest band. The value is calculated differently too: in the Spanish valuation tables, motorhomes depreciate more slowly, for example to 59 percent after 5 to 6 years and 10 percent beyond 18 years. If you move with your own motorhome, the relocation exemption may apply under the same five conditions as for a car; see moving to Spain with a car.

For the ITV inspection before registration, Spain asks for proof of type approval: the CoC, the European certificate of conformity. If it is missing, the ITV station accepts a ficha reducida, an engineer's document that the DGT treats as equivalent to the CoC. On request we offer CoC support. The tax and Tráfico steps are the same as for a car, set out on registering a car in Spain.

According to the DGT, a trailer or caravan up to and including 750 kg is not registered separately. It carries the registration of the car towing it, and that car's towbar must be legalised at the ITV. Above 750 kg it needs its own Spanish registration, on a red plate, plus additional insurance for the trailer.

Trailers and caravans have no engine and pay no IEDMT. A towed caravan is exempt from the periodic ITV for its first 6 years and is then inspected every two years.

Check your driving licence too. According to the DGT, category B is enough for a combination of up to 3,500 kg, and with the B96 code up to 4,250 kg. Above that you need a BE licence. A vehicle approved as a motorhome has the same speed limit in Spain as a car, the DGT says.

For the journey, the rules of each country you pass through apply. In the Netherlands you may drive for 14 days after deregistration, never beyond the expiry of the APK. Check what applies in France and Spain beforehand, or choose transport on a low-loader.