Driving me insane; the legendary Spanish driving test.
In case you hadn’t realised, this has turned into a 5 or 6 part series on getting your license in Spain.
Today I attempted the final driving exam for the first time (yes in Spanish). I just got back and I failed. This is despite completing over 3600 practise theory questions in Spanish and almost 30 hours of compuslory driving lessons. Before I continue, I feel that I should say that far from being a loser, for 10 years I have never failed anything I have attempted, but I’m not at all suprised I failed this one.
It’s nothing to do with ability to drive a car. Far from it. It’s more like seeing how well you cope with a national bureacracy.
Apart from that, one of the most difficult parts of the whole learning to drive experience (at least here in Tenerife) is that you are never permitted to use the handbrake, neither on hillstarts nor when parking on slopes (the only exception is when you immobilise the vehicle). I soon mastered that and was feathering that clutch from a standstill up 20% inclined slopes! No not 5 % or even 10 %, but a 20% gradient. Let’s see someone in Australia do that without using a handbrake.
Anwyay, over the last several weeks, I thought I’d come to learn all the ‘tricks’, but such is not the case. ‘Tricks’ you say? Yes they try their utmost to trick you in order to justify more expensive lessons (they tell me that the average is 20). Here is what I encountered over the course of my twenty driving lessons:
- Faded/bent/non-existent «no entrance» signs.
- Faded road markings
- Inconsistent road markings
- Stop signs obscured by tree branches
- Pedestrians hidden and waiting behind large trash containers
- Potholes which can’t be driven over at speed
Now they do their best to devise a circuit to ensure that you’ll encounter the most of the above situations. Of course when you naturally make a mistake, your instructor doesn’t hesitate in pointing it out to you. What that does is it makes you look like you aren’t capable of driving a car on your own yet.
If you travel down a street in 3rd gear, they advise you that you need to go slower in second gear to be prepared for obstacles. Go down the exact same street in 2nd gear the next day and they’ll tell you to change into 3rd to save petrol. Yes, you can follow their instruction for as long as you want, but whatever you do, until you’ve accomplished the unofficial ~20 lessons, no matter what you do, you’re generally fucked.
You can instantly fail the exam any number of obvious ways:
- Failure to turn on your lights in a tunnel
- Failure to make a ‘second stop’ in an intersection with reduced visibility.
- Failure to stop for a pedestrian (even though they may be hidden behind one of those inapporopriately placed rubbish conatiners)
- If the instructor steps on the secondary pedals (yes, even if by accident)
- Crossing a continuous line
- Failure to circulate in the right lane.
- Mounting a curb (easier than you think here)
The trouble is the minor violations, which the inspectors seem to invent on a whim. My inspector seemed nice enough to begin with, but I think when he could see that I could drive well and grasped the local road rules, he started to make my life difficult. Because after all, no one these days ever passes the spanish driving test first go, lest a foreigner.
At least twice he told me where to turn when I was virtually on top of the intersection. Here were the official reasons for my failure of the driving exam in Santa Cruz de Tenerife:
- Approaching a T-junction, the clever git purposely told me too late which direction to go (basically when I was already on the line give way line). Now in the narrow, maze-like back streets of Santa Cruz & La Laguna, full of parked cars, you really need to know beforehand to enable you to make the turn….. obviously there was zero time to aim the car where it should be going! Anyway. I did the sharpest left turn you could ever imagine, okay, steering wheel at full left lock, turning ever so slowly while feathering the clutch, missed the car that was conveniently parked on the right with probably an inch to spare, still made the turn pefectly, and yet that was one failure right there. BUT I WAS IN COMPLETE CONTROL GODAMMIT!
- Then, travelling down a back street, I come across an obligatory left arrow painted on the floor located JUST before an intersection. All the parked cars in the street ahead were facing away from you so it looked like you could continue but no, no you can’t. But surprise surprise THERE AREN’T ANY «NO ENTRANCE» SIGNS DISPLAYED ANYWHERE! It’s a trick. If you continue straight, you’re instantly suspended. So with a bit of self-doubt, I managed to just make the required uphill left-hand turn, but there was simply NO time to change down into 1st (unless you know the street already) and so I stalled it – once. Second failure.
- 3rd and most grave failure was that travelling at a fair speed, the bastard again told me to turn right waaaay too late… I managed to make the turn but invaded the oncoming lane slightly. Even though there were no cars coming, that was the gravest error so far. BUT the catch is, if you continue straight, you haven’t obeyed his orders and they still give you a lesser penalty. So you can’t win. Catch-22
- 4th and most petty «failure» was that it was raining & the windscreen wipers weren’t going fast enough (I kept changing them between position 1 and 2 according to the conditions). Apparently they should have stayed on position 2….
- Yet another «petty» failure mentioned was that I went through a give way sign ok, gave way alright, there were no cars coming when I turned into the street, and apparently I entered the street turning right a bit too slowly, and by the time I was driving up the road at the velocity limit I had hindered a car which was speeding up behind me. Obstruction of traffic = 5th failure.
I have a mixture of disappointment, condemnation, rage, etc. What can I say? I’m completely over the system & it’s enough to make me give up. If I fail the next exam the total cost will be something like 1500 smegging Euros for the 3rd attemp. In all honesty it has been a total waste of money, but I’m too determined to give up now.
Unlike England, in Spain, there are no provisional licences so before you pass your test, the only person you can drive with is your instructor.Assuming you have undertaken your practical and theory training, you will then be faced with your exam fee. In Spain, you pay for three goes at a time, but only two per type of test. Therefore if you don’t pass your theory until the second time, you only have one attempt at the practical and should you fail the theory test twice, you have to pay a second fee of about 161‚¬.Whatever happens, if you fail you will have to wait about three weeks before taking the exam again. Three more practical exams are compuslory before you attempt the practical exam again.The highway codes are also very different. The Spanish version is the most in-depth in Europe and has three times as many rules as in England. There are also in-depth sections to be studied on first-aid, vehicle maintenance and vehicle loads.The theory exam consists of forty multiple choice questions and you are allowed just four wrong answers. This is similar to that in the UK. It is a published fact that most people sitting the exam in Spain, fail, due to mis-reading or failing to comprehend the lengthy questions.The actual practical exam can be described as a strange affair. In Spain it is a group excursion. Your instructor sits in the passenger seat and the examiner sits in the back, often with several other candidates. After 20 minutes the candidates will swap places and someone else has a go. You will then be informed of a pass or fail.
Aha! Now I understand why I’ve seen so many driving instrutor’s cars full of people. I assumed that lessons were being treated as a family day out. Must be incredibly distracting and add to the stress.
I also now understand why so many Canarios don’t seem to know a) what to do on a roundabout b) what their indicator is for c) that pedestrian crossings are not parking zones d) that when joining the motorway, you give way and e) that you do not stop in the middle of a junction to take a phone call…I could go on.
If the instructors concentrated on teaching people how to be competent road users instead of on the bureaucracy of the test you’d be better off financially and the roads would be a lot safer!
Good luck and nil bastardi carborundum
Well I’m pleased to say that I finally passed! 🙂
I’ve waited two weeks, and the interim paperwork should be at the driving school this week.
They told me that the real plastic license arrives in the main but takes 1-3 months!
After having been through it, I think it’s more like a rite of initiation than anything else…
Hi, I am a driving instructor in the Thame area. One of my pupils isn’t very good understanding English. I would like to know if there is anywhere that i can get a CD rom with the hazard perception and Theory test questions in Spanish?
Today I am a mental and emotional wreck – and physical come ot think of it – having failed my driving test here in Alcala for the fourth time. After 74 classes, yes, you don´t need your eyes examined, 74, this time I didn´t make it out of the exam centre. I was failed for not yielding as I should have, both of us trying to get out of the exam centre. My exam lasted less than 10 seconds, 30 yards and I never got over 10kph. I just don´t know what to do next. Your post is great, makes me feel I´m not the mad one at last.
I am reading this and feel really sorry for you but am at a loss as to how the majority of people in Spain pass their tests in the first place. The silly ******* can`t bloomin drive! to name but a few old men in white vans driving in campo land at 20km per hr smoking cigars, silly teenagers with peas for brains who don´t see beyond their windscreen (whilst going at hairraising speeds!), middle aged women looking glazed and indicating right when they turn left …. the list goes on. Ahhhh feel better now – sorry Dr Leslie!!
I know this thread is incredibly old, but I am in Valencia and in the midst of getting my license. I’m forty freaking three…I’ve been driving since I was 14 (yes with my Dad because he was cool about it). I can drive a stick like a champ. I’m sickened by the time and money I’m having to spend simply because the US and Spain never bothered to sign a piece of paper and yet the English and Japanese (who drive on the other side of the road) can simply exchange their license for a Spanish one without a test. Everything you’ve said in your article is dead on, and makes me feel a little better about the whole thing. I guess misery loves company. If anyone out there is about to do this, take a deep breath, and try to keep a sense of humor about it.
I know this is old but I was in the same situation. I went to a driving school in Caravaca de la Cruz. Failed the exam. But what I did next helped. I switched schools. I enrolled in a school in a completely different city. Explained the situation. Took 3 classes and then the exam again. This was yesterday. The driving instructor told me that if you fail, the examiner returns your paperwork to the driving school. If you pass, they keep it to process. He said the examiner kept mine so it looks like I passed. It’s not officially in the system until today, but switching schools helped me. I just thought the first school was trying to take my money. I spent 817€ total in the process and it took me 11 months.
This page made me laugh so much … I only just passed my Spanish driving test a couple days ago . I failed on my first attempt.
I failed because I drove down a residents only road but residents with cars so hardly dangerous ???? The sign was attached to the corner of the house running on the right of the road so for me also it is not clear if that sign means to not drive forward or drive right ??? It’s not like it was a pedestrian only road either… the driving instructor had to press her pedal to emergency stop so as we know this was an immediate fail . This happened in the last minute of my exam and apparently had I not done that I would’ve passed !
Needless to say I passed a week after – the good thing in spain is that you don’t have to wait months to resit your test .
Great arcticle … thought I’d add my experience to it also x
I found this thread in the process of trying to vent anger after having now failed the drivers test the second time in Barcelona. I’ve been driving for 24 years and pride myself on being a good driver having had a clean record despite having driving many miles. Both times i was flunked for fabricated reasons in Spain. I was originally told that at the very least they couldn’t fail me for being too cautious and yet the first time i failed those were exactly the first criticisms out of his mouth.. and he was trying really hard to fail me – my test took 50 minutes although normally they are around 20. The second time (several weeks and 130EUR later) i drove a total of 2 minutes before he told me to pull over stating i had failed for not making a second stop after a stop sign despite the road clearly being safe free of cars and pedestrians. I am at a loss for what to do because as the Author of this article mentioned I’m too determined to stop now after all the BS I’ve had to endure. I’m considering appealing (recorse de alzada) but mostly what i have read online is that the process is pointless and mostly a time-suck as the whole organisation is run by «Mafia» anyway. This is the price of living in Spain i suppose.
Hello Dr. Leslie, hello everyone . And the sad driving exam saga continues , from 2008 till 2020 and exactly same misery happens :'( I have been driving now for over 13 years, with more than 160000 km on. I was driving in the exam like the wind, I even felt the examiner was amazed on how smooth I was, but no, heeeeell no, I pass first time ?? In your dreams, a vibe I felt later on. The gentleman let me drive till last second, I thought i Passed, got a smile even. But I failed, because I didn’t make a second stop in an intersection. But I defended my situation, I told him I stopped again and I clearly saw no one ! Yes you did, he said, but you made the car on second stop was slightly moved forward, centimeters it was, looked like I am giving way not stopping. Grrrrrr, I don’t know what is that. All I know I paid another 220 euros and will re-do the exam. I am so sad, but now feel better that I am not at least hilusinatting about what happened to me as it happened to you too and sure there are many other people with such stories. Thanks everyone and good luck.
most of the spanish drivers are rubbish and a hazzard to the roads!!!!!
Here I am, taking the driving test the second time. I am prepared to flunk it again. I am retired so you know how long I have been driving.i am a good driver. But here, I don’t shift gears when they want, I got lost the first time because they told me where to go after I already passed the sign, I don’t brake the way they want me to. I am supposed to pon cinco even if I don’t need to. You can’t go to fast but if you try to drive cautiously that is not good either. I feel like I have spent a small fortune trying to get this license. I am not taking any more lessons because it doesn’t help. No I understand why people tell me they drove here for years without a license. I’m not sure I will ever get one.
I too have been during for 40 years and just flunked my practical for the second time in Barcelona. I’m going to keep going and I won’t quit. I’m a good driver. I have two tickets in 40 years. The USA does not have an exchange agreement with Spain. I’m upset and taking it out on this thread. I want to quit today but I won’t. If you are going through this somehow we will pass. Somehow.
Does anyone know how many practice exams I need to take before I take the actual theoretical exam?
I have taken two theoretical exams (in English) and did not pass, so I am wondering if I have not studied enough for the exams.
Also, do you recommend any websites to study for the exams.
Just failed my practical test in less than 5 minutes!!! Failed to do the ‘stop after stop’ or ‘ double stop’ which I didn’t even know was a thing until now. At a cross roads stop sign crossing a one way street (traffic from the left) I stopped (two, three, four count to make sure it’s long enough) and although I had a clear view of the road and pavement and nothing was coming I moved off – wrong! Fail! Return to test centre! Do not pass Go! Do not collect £200.
In the examiner’s view I could not see the necessary 50 metres clear road and I should have made this magical second stop.
Never mind, time to get another test booked ASAP
I just failed the driving test for the second time and was advised to practice more, which meant paying for more lessons. 40 years ago when I got my California driver’s license (yes, driving for FORTY YEARS and failing), we got a driver’s permit after passing the theory test, and then practiced with parents, siblings, anyone with a license and a car, for as much as we wanted FOR FREE. I failed because I used a driveway to turn around on a dead end. «Driving on the sidewalk». And today because I didn’t stop for three seconds the SECOND stop at a stop sign even though I had perfect visibility (no, apparently I didn’t says the instructor). He also thought I needed to have my errors explained several times and a diagram drawn, Give me a break. So, I am resigned to taking the exam multiple times and that it evaluates my driving skills not at all. It sure makes the spanish govt a lot of money, though.
Failed the exam for first time.
Reason, I used clutch a lot and drove in 3rd gear upto 70km/hour, before switching to 4th.
I understand it’s not good for engine but how come it’s a fail?? I didn’t put myself or anyone in danger.
It is a minor fault or fault defienente but still examiner failed me.
It’s a mafia , they just want to find reasons to fail and make you bleed more money. It has nothing to do with how safe or good you drive.
Had my first practical test today. Like others I failed as well. It was 8am rush hour traffic and I got stuck in an intersection. Even though I quickly got out the way it’s enough to fail. I’ve also been driving for 29 years so it’s demotivating.
I have been driving over 11 years now. And I failed my driving exam for the second time today. The 1st attempt, I knew I made a mistake so that was acceptable to me. But in the second attempt, I was behind a cleaning moving vehicle and the road was quite a straight road with a slight overall turn. Now the cleaning vehicle moves slowly. There are two eliminatory fouls. One is to hinder the traffic and one is to overtake in a curve.
The lines were discontinuous as well. As the curve was almost a straight road and with not a single vehicle visible. After careful evaluation, I decided to overtake it. I did not do what to do as if I would have stayed, I would have hindered the traffic as well, which would also be an eliminatory fault.
Apart from that, everything was perfect. After parking he told me that only because of that overtake (which had a very clear view in front of the road), he consideres as an eliminatory fault and will not pass me.
I stumbled upon this blog today, inspiring me to continue my journey with these silly driving tests in Spain. I am a retiree in my 60s with a US and UK license and have driven for 40 years in over 20 countries, including Spain, as my wife is Spanish. I have driven manual cars, automatic and auto-driven Tesla’s which let you read the newspaper. I have failed 3 times in Mallorca with examiners who were not born when I was driving and would not survive 5 minutes in Manhattan, Los Angeles or London traffic. The reasons for ‘suspendido» are hilarious but enough to get me to the point of giving up because of the stupidity. I have my 4th and final test in December and after that I am done and will get my grandkids to drive me aorund Spain whenever I am in town.