For a Spanish driving licence (permiso de conducción), the photo is a 26 × 32 mm colour print with a light, plain and uniform background. The DGT — the Dirección General de Tráfico, part of the Ministerio del Interior — asks for one only in some procedures, and where it does, it asks for an original print, not an uploaded file.
If you are renewing at a Centro de Reconocimiento de Conductores (CRC), you don’t need to bring a photo: the centre takes your photo on the spot and sends it to the DGT with your medical report.
The rule comes from the Reglamento General de Conductores (Real Decreto 818/2009), Annex III, published in the BOE. It asks for a recent colour photo of your face, “32 por 26 mm”, with a light, plain and uniform background (fondo claro, liso y uniforme). The DGT procedure pages repeat it as an original, current 32 × 26 mm colour photo with a plain background.
| Rule | Spanish driving licence photo |
|---|
| Size | 26 mm wide × 32 mm high (portrait). Spanish texts write 32 × 26 mm, naming the height first. |
| Colour and age | In colour; recent (BOE) and current (DGT). No number of months is given. |
| Background | Light, plain and uniform, such as plain white |
| Pose | Taken from the front, with your head completely uncovered |
| Glasses and garments | No dark-tinted glasses, and no garment that could prevent or hinder identification |
| Religious head covering | A veil is accepted if the oval of your face is fully visible from the hairline to the chin |
| Format | An original print |
The rules don’t mention expression or smiling; a neutral expression with your mouth closed is simply the usual choice for ID photos.
The DGT’s electronic office lists an original 26 × 32 mm print for these procedures:
- Duplicate after a change of personal data (name or sex), applied for in person at a Jefatura de Tráfico.
- International driving permit: you hand over the photo when you collect the permit in person, or with your documents if you apply in person.
- Replacing an EU or EEA licence that was lost, stolen or damaged with a Spanish one.
- Renewing from abroad through the Spanish consulate in the country where you are: you fill in and sign a talón-foto form there, and the photo you bring goes on it.
- LVA and LCM licences, for agricultural vehicles and reduced-mobility vehicles.
- Renewal at a CRC: the centre takes your photo itself and sends it to the DGT with your medical report, so a photo you bring isn’t used there. Renewing an ordinary licence online has no photo step either: you attach the CRC report.
- A first ordinary licence and the exchange of a non-EU licence: both rely on the CRC medical report, which carries the photo the CRC takes.
- Duplicate after loss, theft or damage: the DGT page for this duplicate lists no photo.
Since 6 November 2024, the DGT no longer asks you to present the talón-foto or photographs again in procedures where it already holds them, so check your procedure before printing.
- Take a sharp, good-resolution photo at home with a phone: stand in front of a plain, light wall, face the camera, keep your head uncovered and take off dark-tinted glasses.
- Upload it — the Spain driving licence document is already selected.
- IDPhotoBy sizes the photo to 26 × 32 mm, frames your face and checks that the background is light, plain and uniform.
- Check the watermarked preview, then download the print-ready sheet.
- Print your Spanish driving licence photo at actual size — a photo shop printing on photo paper gives the cleanest result — and hand in the original print.
The digital copy in the download is for your records: the DGT procedures that need a photo ask for a print.
IDPhotoBy sizes and frames the photo you upload and checks the background against the BOE criteria; it does not retouch or beautify your face, and it doesn’t send anything to the DGT. It also can’t promise that a Jefatura de Tráfico or a consulate will accept a photo: that decision is theirs.
Need a photo for another Spanish document? See the Spain passport photo and Spain NIE card photo pages.
The DGT describes each procedure, including renewal at a CRC, on its electronic office, sede.dgt.gob.es. Check the official application portal before submitting.
