DGT environmental label for an imported car

An imported car can have a DGT environmental label (the DGT is Spain's traffic authority) just like one bought in Spain, but only once it is registered here: the classification is made by the Vehicle Register according to the car's fuel and Euro standard, and the lookup is done with the Spanish number plate. While it carries a foreign plate, it cannot get the Spanish label. What you can do is find out, before buying it, which label it will be entitled to.

What the environmental label is and who assigns it

The environmental label (in the regulation, the “distintivo ambiental”) is the sticker that shows the environmental classification the vehicle has in the Vehicle Register: 0 emissions, ECO, C and B. No sticker is created for category A, which covers cars that do not meet the requirements of any of the others.

The classification is in annex II of Spain's General Vehicle Regulations (Reglamento General de Vehículos): every vehicle registered in the Vehicle Register will be classified in it according to its emissions level and the fuel it uses (translated from the Spanish). In other words, it is not chosen by the owner or decided by the seller: it comes from the data with which the car is entered in the DGT records.

Which label applies according to engine and Euro standard

For passenger cars and light vans (categories M1 and N1), the General Vehicle Regulations set these criteria:

• 0 emissions (blue): battery electric vehicles (BEV), extended-range electric vehicles (REEV), hydrogen vehicles, plug-in hybrids (PHEV) with a minimum range of 40 kilometres (NEDC cycle) and fuel cell vehicles.
• ECO: plug-in hybrids with a range under 40 km (NEDC cycle), non-plug-in hybrids (HEV) and natural gas, CNG or LPG vehicles. In every case, they must also meet the criteria for the C label.
• C (green): petrol Euro 4/IV, 5/V or 6/VI, or diesel Euro 6/VI.
• B (yellow): petrol Euro 3/III, or diesel Euro 4/IV or 5/V.
• A (no label): any motor vehicle that does not meet the conditions for the 0 emissions, ECO, C or B classification.

Note that the criterion is the Euro standard and the engine type, not the year. A Euro 5 diesel and a Euro 6 diesel from the same period can end up with different labels.

How it is assigned to an imported car

The process is the same as for any car: when the vehicle is registered in Spain, it is entered in the Register with its technical data, and its classification comes from that. To get there, the car first goes through the ITV (Spain's roadworthiness inspection) to obtain its card and then through the DGT; you will find that in the ITV for an imported car and in how to register an imported car with the DGT.

In the meantime, with the plate from the country of origin, the DGT's electronic office is clear: if your vehicle has a foreign plate you cannot obtain a Spanish environmental label, but if it comes from a country with environmental classification (Germany, Austria, Denmark, France) you can look up the equivalent of your label in Spain. The General Vehicle Regulations themselves provide that vehicles without a Spanish plate can be classified under the same parameters, so that their circulation can be adapted to the rules of the competent authority.

A practical detail: according to the DGT, the data used for the environmental label lookup is updated daily, and data on new registrations is available within 24 hours at most. If you have just registered the car and the lookup does not find it yet, wait a day before worrying.

How to know which label it will have before buying

Because the official lookup only works with the Spanish plate, before buying you have to work it out yourself from the car's documentation. Do it like this:

1. Identify the engine type: petrol, diesel, non-plug-in hybrid, plug-in hybrid (and its electric range), gas or electric.
2. Find the Euro standard. Directive 1999/37/EC on vehicle registration documents provides that the registration certificate may include, as optional data under code V.9, the EC environmental classification of type approval. If it does not appear, look for it in the certificate of conformity (CoC) or in the manufacturer's technical documentation; we explain what it is in the certificate of conformity (CoC).
3. Cross-check both pieces of data against the list above.

The DGT also publishes an indicative guide by dates: for the C label, petrol passenger cars and light vans registered from January 2006 and diesel from September 2015; for the B label, petrol registered since 1 January 2001 and diesel from 2006. It works as a first clue, but with an imported car the prudent thing is to check the Euro standard in the papers, because that is the data used to classify it.

Example: a diesel first registered in Germany in 2016 with a Euro 6 standard in its documentation meets the criteria for the C label. If its papers say Euro 5, it meets those for B, even though by date it might look like something else.

How to look it up and where to get it

With the car already registered in Spain:

• Lookup: on the DGT electronic office, entering the plate, or from the miDGT app. To check whether a vehicle is entitled to an environmental label, all you need is its plate number.
• Buying the sticker: at post offices (Correos), the network of workshops of the Spanish workshop confederation (CETRAA) and other networks of authorised workshops, administrative agents (gestores), the Automotive Studies Institute (IDEAUTO) and authorised tobacconists (estancos).
• Price: according to the DGT, issuing the label with the corresponding sticker costs €5, which may go up with shipping costs and other charges depending on the seller.

If the lookup returns a label you did not expect, first check which Euro standard and fuel appear on the car's ITV card. The DGT states that an appeal against administrative decisions on environmental label lookups is made by filing an administrative appeal (recurso de alzada) with the Director General of the DGT.

Do you have to display it?

The DGT answers on its electronic office that displaying the label is voluntary, but recommends displaying it because municipal ordinances may regulate or even restrict the circulation of your vehicle depending on the label it displays. The General Vehicle Regulations leave that decision to each administration: the competent administration may make it compulsory to display the label on the vehicle (translated from the Spanish).

Also, even if your car meets the requirements, if you do not display it you will not be able to benefit from the advantages that the different labels bring. And its place is the lower right corner of the front windscreen, on the inside.

This matters above all because of low-emission zones: Spain's Law 7/2021, on climate change and energy transition, provides that municipalities of more than 50,000 inhabitants and island territories must adopt sustainable urban mobility plans that include setting up low-emission zones. The specific conditions are set by each town council, so check your city's ordinance before deciding which car to bring. If you are doing the sums, also review all the items involved in importing a car.

Sources consulted

Checked on 11 October 2026. We link to the original source so that you can consult the current text.

• Real Decreto 2822/1998, Reglamento General de Vehículos (texto consolidado): anexo II, letra E, y anexo XI, señal V-25. BOE.
• Consulta del distintivo ambiental de un vehículo. Dirección General de Tráfico (sede electrónica).
• Ley 7/2021, de 20 de mayo, de cambio climático y transición energética (texto consolidado), artículo 14. BOE.
• Directiva 1999/37/CE del Consejo, de 29 de abril de 1999, relativa a los documentos de matriculación de los vehículos. BOE (DOUE).