ITV inspection for an imported car: which documents are required

A car brought from another country of the European Union cannot be registered in Spain without first going through an ITV (Spain's roadworthiness inspection) station: this is the pre-registration inspection, which ends, if favourable, with the issue of the type A ITV card. For a car that was already registered in another country of the European Economic Area, the Spanish Ministry of Industry's inspection manual asks for the vehicle's reduced data sheet or, if it has EC type approval, its certificate of conformity (CoC), the original registration certificate from the country of origin and the technical inspection card or equivalent document from that country.

What the pre-registration inspection is

Spain's General Vehicle Regulations (Reglamento General de Vehículos) require that, before being registered, a vehicle has the official certificate proving its essential technical characteristics and its fitness to circulate. When the vehicle was previously registered in another country, or is new and was bought directly in another country with an EC certificate of conformity, that certificate is issued by the competent bodies of the Administration or their delegated entities: in practice, an ITV station.

Royal Decree 920/2017, which regulates vehicle technical inspection in Spain, distinguishes these pre-registration inspections from periodic ones. Stations carry them out following the inspection procedure manual for ITV stations, whose version 7.9 has applied since 1 January 2026.

The manual deals separately with cars already registered in the European Economic Area (the European Union plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) and those coming from third countries. Switzerland and Andorra are not part of the EEA, and cars from the United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) imported after 1 January 2021 must, according to the DGT (Spain's traffic authority), meet the requirements for vehicles acquired outside the EU. If that is your case, see how to import a car from outside the EU.

Which documents are required

For a car already registered in another EEA country, the manual asks that the inspection request be accompanied by these documents, depending on the type of approval it has:

• Individualised reduced data sheet (ficha reducida particularizada) for the vehicle being inspected.
• EC certificate of conformity (CoC), if the car has EC type approval: it is accepted in place of the reduced data sheet. We explain it in what the certificate of conformity is.
• Original registration certificate or equivalent document from the country of origin. It is not essential to present part II.
• Original technical inspection card of the vehicle or equivalent document from the country of origin.

If the authority in the country of origin withdraws the originals of the registration certificate and the inspection card when processing the car's deregistration, the manual accepts photocopies duly certified by that authority, by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country of origin or by its diplomatic mission in Spain.

In addition, before any technical inspection you must show the vehicle's insurance, because it is a precondition under Royal Decree 920/2017. If the car arrives by road, have the insurance sorted before booking.

New unregistered cars coming from the EEA follow a similar procedure: the reduced data sheet or the CoC is also asked for, and without a CoC you must also provide documentation proving that it meets the required regulatory acts.

What the ITV station checks

The procedure has three parts: checking the documentation, checking that the car corresponds to that documentation, and inspecting it technically. In the second part, the station identifies the car by its chassis number (VIN), looks at whether section K of the documentation shows an approval mark valid in Spain, and verifies that it was registered in another EEA State and on what date it was first registered.

Modifications matter. The station checks whether the car has changes classed as modifications (reformas) and, if it finds changes that do not appear in the type approval, it asks for a Spanish individual approval. Explicit notes in the original documentation that change the engine power, or the CO2 emissions when that documentation has the standardised field for them, are considered modifications to the vehicle.

Some checks particularly affect certain imported cars. With right-hand drive, on passenger cars and light vans the mirrors and the dipped, main-beam and fog lights are also inspected. And when the inspection is limited, as explained in the next section, on passenger cars it is also checked that the speed indicator reads in kilometres per hour.

What happens to the inspection it had in the other country

Royal Decree 920/2017 recognises the technical inspection certificate issued by another Member State, but only for periodic inspections and provided it is still valid under the Spanish frequencies. In the pre-registration inspection, the manual applies it like this:

• The date of the next inspection is calculated from the date of the last inspection in the country of origin, the frequencies in the royal decree and the car's first registration date.
• If that calculated date has already expired, a full inspection is carried out, except for the documentation and number plate points.
• If it is within the validity period, or the initial exemption period, the inspection is limited to the chassis number and unauthorised modifications, and the calculated date is noted on the ITV card.

The manual itself gives an example with Germany: a passenger car registered in January 2010, with a German inspection in January 2024 and a pre-registration inspection in Spain in April 2024, keeps that inspection and the card notes that it is valid until January 2025. If the German inspection had been in January 2023, it would not be valid and the full inspection would have to be carried out.

After the ITV

If the documentary and technical inspection is favourable, the type A ITV card is issued. It shows the date of the car's first registration or entry into service, which passes to the registration certificate and is used to calculate its age for the purposes of the next periodic inspections in Spain.

With the ITV card you can go on to the taxes and request the plate at the Traffic Office: we explain it in how to register an imported car with the DGT. The price of the inspection depends on the autonomous community, which sets the tariff regime, and you can freely choose the ITV station in Spain where you do it.

Mistakes to avoid

• Buying without the CoC or the reduced data sheet. Without either of them, you are missing a document the manual requires for the inspection.
• Not bringing the original registration certificate. If the country of origin withdraws it when deregistering the car, get the certified copy.
• Turning up without insurance. Showing it is a precondition for any inspection.
• Not checking the modifications. Changes classed as modifications that do not appear in the type approval may require a Spanish individual approval.
• Taking the foreign inspection as valid without calculating. It is only valid if the date calculated with the Spanish frequencies has not expired.

To see the whole process from start to finish, see how to import a car from Germany and what to check before buying a used car in Europe.

Sources consulted

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

• Manual de procedimiento de inspección de las estaciones ITV, versión 7.9. Ministerio de Industria y Turismo.
• Real Decreto 2822/1998, Reglamento General de Vehículos (texto consolidado). BOE.
• Real Decreto 920/2017, de 23 de octubre, por el que se regula la inspección técnica de vehículos (texto consolidado). BOE.
• Inspección técnica de vehículos (normativa y manual). Ministerio de Industria y Turismo.
• Matriculación de vehículos nuevos y vehículos provenientes del extranjero. DGT (sede electrónica).