The Council of Ministers approved a new Regulation on Historic Vehicles that updates a rule that is already three decades old to adapt it to current European legislation and standardise the treatments and benefits that will be provided to vehicles classified as historic in different countries.
The new regulation, promoted by the Ministries of the Interior and Industry and Tourism, aims to prevent the Spanish regulatory treatment, which is unequal with respect to other European countries, from encouraging the removal or loss of historic vehicles to places outside of Spanish territory.
The new regulation, which will come into force on 1 October, urges local councils, in exercising their powers to regulate the use of urban roads and to restrict the circulation of certain vehicles on said roads for environmental reasons, to establish formulas in their municipal ordinances that allow circulation to those owners who make sporadic or non-habitual use of their historic vehicles.
Historic vehicles over 60 years old are exempt from periodic ITVs, while mopeds classified as historic are completely exempt, although in both cases the owners of such vehicles have the option of opting for voluntary ITV.
The introduction of the Technical Services for Historic Vehicles is noteworthy. These entities will evaluate the vehicles that are intended to be classified as historic and will issue technical reports and certificates in the cases provided for in the regulations. These new entities will carry out work similar to that currently carried out by official laboratories at regional level.
Historic Vehicles Must Be 30 Years Old
In order for vehicles to be considered historic, similar to current regulations, they must meet at least one of the following requirements:
They must have been manufactured or registered for the first time at least 30 years ago, their specific type must have ceased to be produced and they must be in their original condition, without having undergone any fundamental changes in terms of their characteristics or main components. They must also be in a correct state of maintenance and conservation.
Those included in the General Inventory of Movable Property of the Spanish Historical Heritage or declared of cultural interest and those of special interest for having belonged to some relevant personality or intervened in some event with historical significance.
The new Regulation removes the possibility that so-called collector vehicles can be classified as historic.
New Procedures
Two new procedures are regulated for the classification of historic vehicles: one that could be called “abbreviated”, which can be used by vehicles registered in Spain that are at least 30 years old, that are in circulation and have a valid ITV (Group A), and another procedure to be followed by those vehicles that do not meet these requirements, which will be somewhat more complex, eliminating in any case the cataloguing phase because it has been proven unnecessary (Group B).
Speed Limits, Children and Seat Belts
The new Regulation also regulates traffic rules for historic vehicles. It establishes a speed limit of 80 km/h for historic vehicles that are not designed to have seat belts in the front seats and prohibits minors of height equal to or less than 135 cm from travelling on interurban roads in historic vehicles that do not have seat belts or in which it is not possible to install child restraint systems.
Historic Vehicles Cannot Be Used Frequently
The use of historic vehicles will be occasional and in no case as a daily means of transport in order to minimise their environmental impact, and the use of historic vehicles for public transport of passengers or goods and for agricultural activities or works and services is generally prohibited.
The new regulation defines ordinary registration to specify that it includes mopeds and agricultural vehicles, among others. It also defines “occasional use” as the circulation of the historic vehicle that does not exceed 96 days per year.
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