Once upon a time in Spain, you had to have a spare set of glasses in your car or face a fine; nowadays, it's only a recommendation. However, there are things you should be aware of.
For example, if you look at the back of your Spanish driving licence (and if you are a resident, you should have one by now) you will see column “12.” If it is blank, then you are registered as not needing glasses to drive.
However, if it is followed by “01,” it means that you should be wearing glasses to drive and failing to do so would mean a fine, even if you are wearing contact lenses at the time.
If it is followed by “01.02,” it means you use contact lenses and should have them in. Finally, if is has “01.06,” it means that you can drive wearing either.
So, unless the section 12 is empty, you could face a find of up to 200 euros.
(News: Spain)
Fred: the original article was really for Spaniards but there are some foreigners here with a Spanish licence. I took my test here and have never had a UK one so I didn’t have to go through the European Driving Licence and exchanging a licence for a Spanish one. The only UK licence that I have had was a provisional one from 1980 – I’ve still got it somewhere, but I imagine the UK ones have changed a lot from that old format.
If you have exchanged your UK licence, row 12 will not be empty as it shows details of your UK licence, followed by any codes.
You don’t need to change an EU licence when you become resident
As a follow up, Ireland uses 01 to mean sight correction or protection so contact lens are ok. Uk licences seem to put the 01 in column 12. Can you think of a better way to confuse?
Curious. On mine, admittedly Irish but otherwise identical, the 01 is on lower left near the 12. Because 01 applies to all vehicles. The column 12 is reserved on mine for restrictions that only apply to specific categories. So many ways a standard EU document can confuse the police.