Category B Licence Vehicle Permission Extension

Holders of Spanish driving licences who are qualified to drive category ‘B’ vehicles (passenger cars), and with at least two-years driving experience, will be able to drive an additional type of vehicle without extra examinations.

The DGT has announced that category ‘B’ licence holders will now also be permitted to drive goods vehicles, so long as this vehicle is of an ‘eco’ environmentally friendly type, and no more than 4,250 kilos , as reported by the Directorate General of Traffic to the Business Organization of Logistics and Transport (UNO) organisation.

Ordinarily, the regulations require a category ‘C’ licence to be held for this type of vehicle with more than 3,500 kilos of Maximum Authorized Mass (MMA), but this new exemption allows for car licence holders to drive heavier goods vehicles so long as it is an ecological vehicle that do not exceed 4,250 kilos.

The reason is that the DGT realises that this type of vehicle can often be heavier on account of the additional weight caused by batteries required to fuel the vehicle, and have reacted to calls by the logistics sector to make the change in order to compensate for this.

For the general secretary of UNO, Francisco Aranda, the move is “a fundamental decision to encourage the use of ecological vehicles in the Spanish logistics sector, to encourage the expansion of the use of this type of vehicle in the sector and eliminate the barriers that existed for it”.

This latest amendment to the regulation is in addition to the one already approved that adapts the regulations to allow alternative fuel vehicles, such as natural gas, liquefied gas, electricity or hydrogen, to increase their Maximum Authorized Mass (MMA) by up to one tonne. .

According to Aranda, this measure also moves towards regulatory harmonization within the framework of the European Union and follows in the footsteps of other countries such as Sweden and Germany.