The Spanish government has given the green light for Moroccan professionals to use their Moroccan driver’s licenses on Spanish territory without having to take a theoretical and practical exam.
The Iberian executive body has expressed its support for the recognition of the Moroccan driver’s license without a prior theoretical exam for professionals, except for applicants seeking equivalence for licenses in classes C (trucks), C+E (with trailer), D (buses), and D+E (with trailer).
“Moroccan drivers applying for license exchanges equivalent to Spanish classes C, C+E, D, and D+E must take a driving test on a road open to general traffic, with a vehicle or combination of vehicles authorized by the mentioned licenses,” stated the official Spanish Bulletin on this subject.
With this approval, the Spanish government paves the way for mutual recognition of driver’s licenses. As a reminder, Spain had announced this reciprocity measure in the Official Bulletin on March 23.
The news must now be submitted to the Spanish parliament for final approval. It is worth noting that this change is not a new measure but dates back to February 2019.
The Spanish Directorate General of Traffic (DGT) submitted a proposal to amend point 4 of the agreement between Spain and Morocco on the mutual recognition and exchange of national driver’s licenses, formalized on March 8, 2004. This stated that Moroccan professional drivers would be subject to an additional theoretical and practical exam, while Spanish professional drivers would not have to do so.
The Spanish Council of Ministers specified that Spain is bound by an “exchange of notes” in which the previous agreement between the two countries on the mutual recognition and exchange of national driver’s licenses was amended.
On February 6, the aforementioned Council of Ministers had already approved the signing of the exchange of notes forming this agreement, which took place in Madrid on February 29 and March 6, 2024. The Spanish government points out that since the amendment came into force, it has been provisionally applied since April 7.
The reason for the change is a need for qualified labor by Spanish transport and freight companies, which requested to fill the number of vacancies for qualified drivers in the sector.
However, the announcement was not well received by the Spanish far-right, which quickly criticized the measure. According to the far-right, Moroccan driver’s licenses and Moroccan drivers are not of the same level as those in their own country.
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