Testing times

In England, vehicles have to be tested when they are three years old and then every year. In Spain, you have four years of grace for cars followed by tests every two years up to 10 years and thereafter a test each year.

Our Skodas have now reached the four year mark and therefore needed ITVs (Inspeccion Tecnica de Vehiculos). This is done at an Iteuve  centre, NOT a garage and the nearest one to us is at San Bartolomé close to the Vega Baja Hospital.

The last time I had a test done there, I booked it online. You can no longer do that for this particular centre. You can phone up and make an appointment or call in and make an appointment however, we decided to take a chance on waiting in the queue.

Timing is everything because there are busy periods and quiet periods. We've been there and seen long lines of vehicles waiting and other times when there have just been a handful. I imagine early in the morning would be good but we opted for lunch period instead.

You need to know what your car's registration sounds like in Spanish. Sometimes they will just call out the registration and other times the marque or model of the car. Listening for the letters is a lot easier than trying to catch the number before and make sure you catch the pista (1, 2 or 3 at  San Bartolomé). What you hear can be a little confusing though and varies between each tester.

If you are English, they will help by giving directions in their version of English. However, it is relatively easy to learn a few words and phrases in Spanish that will help see you through in case they don't.

Bonnet - Capote
Headlights – Los Faros
Full beam- Luces altas
Dipped beam- Corto alcance
Las Luces Traseras- Back Lights
Las Luces de los Frenos – Break lights
Luz de emergencia -Emergency light
Luz de marcha atrás- Reversing light
Limpiaparabrisas- windscreen wipers
Izquerda – Left
Derecha – Right
El Freno de Mano – Hand Brake
El Volante – Steering Wheel

Ten minutes and it is all done. Hopefully, like us,  you get a certificate with Favourable printed on it and a sticker for the windscreen.