Renewing your driving licence in Spain with a medical condition: which reports to bring

Having a long-term medical condition or taking medication doesn't, in itself, stop you renewing your driving licence. The medical examination centre assesses whether you are fit to drive using the criteria set by the rules, the General Driver Regulations (Reglamento General de Conductores). For many conditions, what allows you to be passed as fit is a favourable report from the doctor who follows you, and sometimes the licence is renewed for a shorter period. Having that report ready can save you from having to come back.

Renewing your licence with a medical condition: how fitness to drive is assessed

The rules list the illnesses and impairments that can lead to a licence being refused or granted with adaptations, restrictions or a shorter validity period. They distinguish two groups with different requirements:

• Group 1: motorcycle and car (AM, A1, A2, A, B and B+E).
• Group 2: lorry and bus (C1, C, D1, D and their combinations with a trailer), with stricter criteria.

In many sections, the rules don't require that the condition be absent, but that it be under control and that a report confirm this. Sometimes they specify who must sign it: a neurologist, a sleep unit, the cardiologist or the doctor who carries out the follow-up.

The general validity periods by age and how the process is completed with the traffic authority (Tráfico) are on the renewing your driving licence page. If you are on treatment, what makes the difference is the paperwork.

What the medical report should include

Ask your specialist for the report in advance and, if possible, have it state:

• The diagnosis and how long you have had it.
• Your current treatment, with the names and doses of your medicines.
• Whether the condition is under control and how long it has been stable.
• Whether you have had any recent attacks, hospital admissions or complications.
• Whether you follow your treatment and, where relevant, that it doesn't prevent you from driving.

An old report that doesn't reflect your current situation is of little use. If your treatment has changed, bring the most recent one.

Which reports to bring, by condition

Diabetes

If you are treated with insulin or with glucose-lowering medicines (the ones that can make your sugar drop too low), in group 1 you need a favourable medical report confirming that the condition is well controlled and that you know how to manage it. The maximum validity is five years and it can be reduced at the doctor's discretion. The rules also don't accept repeated severe hypoglycaemia in the last year, and they consider it severe when you need another person's help. If you have had any, say so and have it stated in the report. In group 2 the conditions are considerably stricter.

Sleep apnoea

Obstructive sleep apnoea diagnosed with a sleep study, with 15 or more pauses or drops in breathing per hour (apnoea-hypopnoea index) and moderate or severe daytime sleepiness, prevents renewal until it is under control. With a favourable report from a sleep unit stating that you follow your treatment properly and that the condition, especially the sleepiness, is under control, you can renew for a maximum of three years in group 1 and one year in group 2. If you use CPAP, the air machine for sleeping, the machine's usage record can help to show that you follow the treatment. If your apnoea is followed by a sleep unit, ask for the report in good time.

Epilepsy

In group 1 you aren't allowed to drive if you have had seizures, convulsive or with loss of consciousness, in the last year. You need a favourable report from a neurologist stating the diagnosis, that you follow your treatment, how often you have seizures and that the medication doesn't prevent you from driving. The validity is two years at most, or five if you have gone three years without seizures. There are specific criteria for seizures that occur only during sleep, and in group 2 the requirements are much higher.

Eyesight problems

In group 1 the requirement is visual acuity (what you can see on the letter chart) of at least 0.5 with both eyes, with glasses or contact lenses if you need them; in that case, the report states that you must wear them when driving. Your field of vision is also assessed. If you have had surgery to correct your prescription, bring the report on the operation: during the first year, the validity is one year at most. With an eye condition that is getting worse, if you meet the minimum standards, the validity is set at the doctor's discretion, and a recent report from the ophthalmologist helps with this assessment. Don't forget to bring your glasses or contact lenses to the appointment.

Heart

The rules have detailed criteria for arrhythmias, pacemakers, defibrillators, heart failure, or angina and heart attack, among others. In almost all of them, the key is a favourable report from the cardiologist. Two examples from group 1: with a pacemaker, at least two weeks after it was fitted and with a report confirming that the device is working properly and that the wound has healed, the validity is three years; with atrial fibrillation, a report confirming that the treatment is effective allows you to renew with the validity reduced to three years. If you have had blackouts or losses of consciousness, this must be stated. Bring your latest cardiology report and, if you have a device, the report from its last check.

Medication that can affect driving

Some medicines can cause drowsiness, dizziness or slower reflexes. In Spain, those that can affect driving have a red triangle with a car on the packaging and the wording «Conducción: ver prospecto» ("Driving: see leaflet"). The rules don't accept regular use of medicines that, alone or in combination, seriously affect your ability to drive; exceptionally, with a favourable medical report confirming that they have no negative effect, you can renew, with the validity reduced if necessary.

Bring a list of all your medicines, doses and times, including those you only take now and then. If you are being treated for a mental health problem, a report from whoever prescribes it is just as useful.

What to avoid

• Stopping your medication a few days beforehand "to come out well". Stopping treatment on your own initiative can destabilise your condition and doesn't change what has to be assessed.
• Keeping quiet about a diagnosis or treatment. The examination includes questions about your health, and a condition that is under control and properly documented doesn't usually stop you being passed as fit.
• Going without a report and trusting it won't be needed. If the professional needs it, you'll have to come back.
• Leaving it until the last day. Getting a report from a specialist takes time: arrange it as the expiry date approaches.

If you are given a shorter validity period

A shorter validity period isn't a penalty. It means your situation will be reviewed more often because it may change: you'll come back sooner, with an updated report. There may also be conditions, such as driving with glasses. Besides the medical part, the examination includes tests of attention, coordination and reflexes; the psychotechnical test page explains what they involve.

If you aren't sure which report to bring in your case, ask before your appointment at the driver medical examination centre: arriving with the right paperwork is the simplest way to complete the process in a single visit.