Since Spain joined the European Union, back in 1986, some things have changed in the bull's skin. Socio-economic, labor, university and political integration has been strengthened and among them it has also touched the driver's license. The free movement of people and goods by the states that make up the common area implies standardizing rules, since all citizens must have the same, or similar, documents.
Over the years, the old driving license in pink cardboard gave way to one in card support. In it, the data was better collected and it was more difficult to falsify it. Nevertheless, In Spain, driving licenses were very limited depending on the type of vehicle to go drive. One of the permits that existed was for driving taxis, ambulances and other emergency and school vehicles, the construction sector .
What was the BTP permit?
According to Royal Decree 818/2009, of May 8, which approves the General Regulations for Drivers, the BTP card enabled "drive priority vehicles when circulating in urgent service, vehicles that perform school transportation when transporting school children and vehicles destined for passenger transport in service of this nature, all of them with a maximum authorized mass not exceeding 3.500 kg and their number of seats, including the driver, not exceeding nine”.
Before it disappeared, how was the BTP card obtained?
Before the BTP permit disappeared, the applicant i wanted to get it had to meet two requirements inclusive but not exclusive. The first was be over 18 years old and the second count on more than one year of experience with the B license. Depending on whether one or both were met, the exam to obtain the license would have one approach or another. If you applied only with the age requirement (18 years old) and had no experience with the B permit, the exam to obtain the BTP had a theoretical part and a practical part.
If, on the other hand, you were over 18 years old and had more than one year of experience with a B license, the exam to obtain the BTP was limited to a theoretical knowledge test. At the same time the way to obtain the BTP card could also be done in two ways. The first, and most logical, was to go to a driving school and the second, and riskier (but no less effective) was to prepare on your own.
The training for obtain the BTP permit for a driving school It had advantages and disadvantages. The advantages were receiving the classes and material necessary to obtain the license. The drawback was paying those classes, fees and other training supplements. On the opposite side you could get it for free, but the student had to look for the syllabus or book to study, although thanks to the appearance of the internet it was very simple. Opting for this modality made the license cheaper because classes, fees and other payments could be saved, but it meant that the interested party had to worry about all the administrative procedures.
Once the interested party had prepared the agenda and had studied the concepts necessary to take the exam I had to take the next step. If he had chosen to train at a driving school, it would enroll him in the exam or if he had opted for the free route, the interested party had to do it in the Traffic delegation of his city. Either way, the theoretical exam consisted of 20 multiple choice questions where a maximum of two errors could be made. Its difficulty was minimal (having studied logically) and if it was passed, it was passed to the practical test if necessary.
What has happened so that the BTP permission has disappeared?
Integration into the European Union, which I commented at the beginning of this post, is the one that has forced the General Directorate of Traffic to eliminate this permit of driving. None of the 27 (no longer the United Kingdom) countries of the common zone, with the exception of Spain, had one for taxis, emergency vehicles or school transport on its list of driver's licenses. Therefore, after approving the entry into force of the Single European Driving License our country was urged to eliminate it.
According to the General Directorate of Traffic “the reason that justifies its elimination is that the types of vehicles authorized to drive by the BTP category may be driven with other categories already included in the Single Community Permit, from the entry into force of the regulatory amendment". For this, the Government of Spain will have to modify the General Regulations for Drivers.
The elimination of the BPT driving license will be executed by means of a Royal Decree that includes the suppression of this license in Spain. In addition, it must incorporate into our legal system the Directive 2014 / 85 / EU on the driving license (mandatory legal text for member countries of the European Union). The deadline that the European Union had given our country to make these changes was December 31, 2015.
With everything, the BTP permission has disappeared of our national catalog of driving licenses from the 1 of January of 2016. For now, this license only exists in Spain and is valid exclusively in the national territory until the drivers who still have it in our possession have to renew it. Now, whoever is interested in obtaining it will not have to take additional tests or exams because when obtaining the B license, the extinct BTP permit is obtained ex officio.
And now what will happen to those of us who have the BTP permit in our possession?
Having a driving license implies that when the expiration date approaches, we have to renew it if we do not want to lose the possibility of driving. Nevertheless, with the disappearance of the BTP permission things will change, since when this permission expires, it will also will be deleted from our card pink plastic where the cards we have in our possession are collected.
According to the General Directorate of Traffic «BTP permit holders will be able to continue driving the vehicles for which the BTP was previously required, regardless of whether they must meet the requirements that the corresponding sectoral regulations may establish for the performance of these services (taxis, ambulances, police...), provided that the category of driving license required based on the vehicle being used is maintained. concerned" [...] "also, said owners will continue with the same driving license, in which the BTP category appears, until the category B permit expires. When it is renewed, the mention BTP will no longer appear in the new document«.
Before this homogenization of driving licenses at European level, BTP permission has been during years one of the most demanded the driving schools of Spain. The reason was simple, because without this permit certain types of vehicles could not be driven. Taxis, ambulances, certain emergency vehicles and school vehicles could not be taken if the driver did not have this permit. The BTP was the key that opened the door to having a decent job because in addition to this license, great knowledge was not required for its performance.
With this clarification drivers who have this license are covered both in Spain and in the rest of the countries of the European Union. Now we won't have to worry about renewing it, saving on medical examinations and fees, as it will be automatically renewed when we update the normal B. Therefore, it is good that community bodies ensure that all European citizens have the same rights. However, the driving schools will not have been very amused because they lose part of their income. C'est la vie.
Source - Directorate General of Traffic (DGT)
Good news since we removed an unnecessary wall to be able to work in those sectors
It seems that fewer and fewer professionals are required, less quality, etc. Now, by downloading one of those destructive apps from the Internet, anything goes. Cars drive themselves, etc. Let Rita work and the taxes paid by those apps.
Now the curious thing is that the B-1 is in the document and does not really exist,
and the one who has left his money to get it?
lost money… C´est la vie.
Hello! I'm Marina from Furgo.io and this is a personal comment. We really like this blog and the truth is that it is good that they have commented on this specific permit. It seems good to me that whoever needs to renew it is enough with the B, since years of experience really counted more than anything else for the permit, even if there were specific questions.
Thank you for allowing the comment. All the best,
Well, return the money, or give me something else. I said
Well, now that we do they give us the money back. Since we have not removed it.
Give us another or the money.
I went to renew my b1 card, and I couldn't. I think it's because I got my btp card after the b1 card, how can I find out?
those of us who get it with the B-2 or BTP, spend money on a mechanics exam just like the C-1 and practice with a vehicle greater than 4 meters. This can not continue. They must give the next card that follows. It would be fair.
sdfsd
They should give the next license that follows C-1, because we spent money, we did exams and practices with a vehicle longer than 4 meters. The normal thing is that they exchange it and not that you stay with nothing
Spain a country of shit and thieves.
Country loathing.
The BTP is a right acquired by those of us who pay a fee and are examined for it. Its elimination, without any compensation, is an injustice, an outrage and an insult to all of us who made an economic and intellectual effort to acquire it. It's the closest thing to prevarication I know. Who does not have it is because they did not want to or because they did not know and the DGT has not been able to live up to it by not having validated it for another.
Your information is incomplete, we had to study and also pass a mechanics test and demonstrate more ease when driving than the standard driver, which involved paying more fees and practices. I see it as really unfair, because of the effort involved, personal and economic, as well as better preparation, we ask less and less and that's how it goes...