The revolutionary regulations that the DGT now allows for license plates

Former traffic officer Juan Carlos Toribio reported in one of his posts on his YouTube channel (@desterrado) about the entry into force on July 22 of Order PJC/780/2025, which modifies Annexes II, IX, X and XVIII of the General Vehicle Regulations .

In this case, Toribio focused on Annex XVIII on license plates , which previously required mopeds, motorcycles, tricycles, and quadricycles to carry a single license plate on the rear, mounted vertically or nearly vertically, in the median longitudinal plane of the vehicle and in the center and above the rear fender. This regulation has now been amended.

How will the license plate be able to be carried with this change?

Annex XVIII now specifies only the following : "Mopeds, motorcycles, three-wheeled vehicles and light and heavy quadricycles shall carry a single number plate on the rear, mounted vertically or almost vertically. Light and heavy quadricycles may, in addition, optionally carry a front registration plate."

Therefore, it eliminates several guidelines from the previous one. In short, Toribio explains that it is possible to display the license plate on one side of the rear of the motorcycle, as he exemplifies with a custom motorcycle, although he warns that it must always be visible and free of obstacles that hinder its reading, as indicated by the Road Safety Law .

How have license plates changed in Spain ?

Vehicle registration in Spain began on October 31, 1900 , the date on which the first automobile was registered in the Balearic Islands. Since then, the license plate design and system have undergone several modifications.

The first to be implemented was the numeric provincial system (1900-1971), which allowed for the registration of up to 52 million vehicles. Ultimately, it was used to register around 5.4 million. An example of this format would be TE 000234, where "TE" referred to the province of Teruel. The second system was the alphanumeric provincial system (1971-2000), which registered almost 30 million vehicles. An example of a license plate using this model would be TE 3456 BC.

Subsequently, the national alphanumeric system was implemented (in force since 2000), characterized by a combination of four digits followed by three consonants. An example would be TTB 8734. This format allows for the generation of approximately 80 million different license plates.