ARCHIVED - In the next few weeks: UK Ambassador on when driving licence issue will be resolved
“It is a very unfortunate situation… We appreciate the goodwill” – British Ambassador to Spain opens up on driving licences
The British Ambassador to Spain, Hugh Elliott, gave an in-depth interview to Spanish newspaper El Periódico de España this week, in which he hinted that the outstanding issues on driving licences for Brits in Spain could be resolved “in the next few weeks”.
Speaking to Spanish journalist Mario Saavedra in a high-rise office in the British Embassy in Madrid, the same office from which he delivers his Facebook updates on the status of driving licence negotiations, the Ambassador opened up on Gibraltar, Brexit and the state of UK politics since Liz Truss came to power.
Firstly, on the topic of Gibraltar and whether Spain and the UK will reach a deal to create a zone of shared economic prosperity, Elliott stated, “We have made a lot of progress” and that "there is a determination on all sides to bring this agreement to a successful conclusion.”
“There are still some issues to resolve, it’s true,” he said. “If it were easy, it would have been done long ago.”
He continued: “The purpose is to ensure the smooth movement of people between Gibraltar and Spain, to improve the prosperity of the area, Gibraltar and Campo de Gibraltar. That requires an innovative solution to border controls. The details are being worked out. Having the controls where they are, at Gibraltar airport, is complex and the details are important. The UK has made it very clear, as has Spain, that sovereignty positions cannot be altered in this agreement. And that is where we are moving forward. I am confident that we are going to reach an agreement.”
However, Elliott refused to give a specific deadline for when such an agreement might be reached, not even at the end of the year as the Government of Gibraltar itself suggested. “I don’t set dates,” he said.
What he was confident of, though, was that an agreement on Gibraltar could be reached between the EU and the UK that is separate from an agreement on the Ireland-Northern Ireland border because they “do not link the two issues together”.
Driving licences
On the hot topic of driving licences for British nationals resident in Spain after Brexit, who are not allowed to use their UK licences but must instead take a driving test to get a Spanish driving licence, Elliott was his ever-hopeful self: “Negotiations are progressing.”
He even managed to put a tentative timeline on when an agreement might be reached to allow Brits, of whom an estimated 30,000 are affected by this issue, to temporarily use their British driving licences again in Spain and to exchange them for Spanish ones without having to retake their test.
You might also like: How much does it cost to get a Spanish driving licence?
“I hope that in the next few weeks we will solve the remaining problems,” he said. “This is also what our ministers discussed last Saturday. They expressed a willingness to conclude the negotiations, which have taken longer than we would have wished.
“It is a very unfortunate situation, with thousands of British people living in Spain currently unable to drive. Spain is the only EU country where this is the case. That is why we want it to be resolved as soon as possible. We appreciate the goodwill.
“What we are asking for is for British residents to be able to exchange their driving licence for a Spanish one without having to take a new test. Spaniards or other Europeans in the UK can already do that. But here there is a group of thousands of British people who cannot do it.
“Spain has asked to add to this agreement the exchange of data so that it can have information on tourists, British visitors who come here, to ensure road safety and to be able to send, for example, fines in the event of an offence. It is a complex issue because of the data processing.”
The Ambassador flatly refused the charge that Spain is actually using the driving licence issue to gain leverage in the Gibraltar negotiation: “This is a technical issue and we’ve almost got it resolved. We are going to get it. It’s an important issue for the British here and for this embassy.”
âï¸A star is born!
— Maria Speaks English (@mariaspeakseng) October 13, 2022
🇬🇧@HughElliottUK se animó a grabar unos truquitos durante mi visita a la Embajada Británica @ukinspain
🫖Decir “would you like a cup of tea” está genial, pero este truquito que nos da el Embajador dará ✨vidilla✨ a tu inglés en un contexto muy informal. pic.twitter.com/jX5b2gEDRf
Hugh Elliott teaches English to Spanish speakers online
The state of the UK
Finally, the Ambassador discussed the current political instability in the United Kingdom, with the collapse of the pound, the skyrocketing mortgage rates which are forcing people to pay hundreds more every month and proposed tax cuts for the wealthiest.
Standing behind PM Liz Truss, Hugh Elliott said, “The economic situation is difficult for everyone. There is an acute cost of living problem. The prime minister took a quick decision to cap the price of electricity to make the cost manageable for people, who were calling for swift and decisive action.
“She has taken other measures for which the ground could certainly have been better prepared; that much is clear from the reaction of the markets. But those measures were there to promote the growth we need and to be able to meet the needs of the people. Yes, it has been a turbulent reaction, but we are looking for growth.”
He went on to praise the close relationship of British and Spanish businesses: “Investors have a lot of confidence in the UK, hence the level of investment. British investment in Spain is still very strong. The UK is the second largest foreign investor in Spain, and the number one destination for Spanish investment. That belies the fervour in the media about the turbulence.”
Finally, he had some words about the response in Spain to the passing of Queen Elizabeth II and how King Charles’s first few weeks on the throne have gone.
“The closeness shown by the Spanish people has been extraordinary, a reflection of the fact that she was a bit of a queen to everyone. After more than 70 years on the throne, she had won the hearts and respect of everyone for her exemplary public service. This was reflected in the comments in the condolence books. The messages were very emotional, of deep respect, admiration and respect.”
Addressing the not one, but two moments when Charles went viral on the internet for his use of fountain pens, Elliott said: “Look, I use a pen. If the ink comes out on my hand, the words I use don’t want to be written... It seems to me that perhaps the media have exaggerated. He has done a fantastic job in the face of global scrutiny, after the loss of his mother. He has reached out to the British people, he has addressed the impressive queue of people at the funeral chapel, and he has travelled to the funeral sites in the UK. It was an exemplary performance.”
Image: gov.uk
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