Registering a car

Quite a bit is the short answer

Any vehicle arriving in Spain will have to pay a First Registration Tax & this is about 16% of its value. This value is cast in stone by the Traffic Office (Trafico) and cannot be disputed (as far as I know), but !
When you first buy a property & move here with your goods (chattel) you can include your vehicle as part of this & will be exempt from the tax, but !
To do this you must start the registration within 30 days.
You must have owned the vehicle for at least 6 months.
You must get a document from the  Embassy confirming

Thank you for this info.

A couple of things I must add - I will not seek to buy property, just find a rental. I guess in this case I will have to pay 16%. This is considering the value of the NEW car? Or my declared value? I have a 2004 Skoda Fabia Hatchback.

Will I also have to change the registration plates?

for more information you need to contact near by embassy:)

Okay, thank you!

If you are looking at living in La Linea you don't need a car to work in Gib - it is walking distance eg I just walked to La Linea from Gib today.  You may also find it easier to sell your current car and buy a second hand one in Spain, while they are not cheap, they are usually in decent condition as they don't rust.  You will of course, need to get an ITV every year, and when your car is ten years old (as yours will be in a couple of years) you will need to get one every six months.

Importing a vehicle is much easier, but you can only do that if you are living in Gib and you have already said you want to live in Spain.  But it is one of the factors to take into account about where you live.

Hello roughseasinthemed, thank you for the extra information. Sounds like It would be superfluous to drive 3000+ kilometres just to commute 5 minutes. I rather get a bike and keep in shape

One more unrelated question, if I may.

What are the living standard in La Linea (or close by) right now? Is it safe, for a young couple - no children?