![]() Barcelona reached series XG, while the next province by registration volume, Valencia, was far behind at series HJ. This system lasted until September 2000, by which time Madrid was running out of registrations again, its "counter" reaching series ZX. ![]() for some police cars, and EA for Spanish Air Force land vehicles). Finally, some otherwise "forbidden" combinations (particularly those containing R or ending in one of the skipped vowels) were exceptionally used in a few particular cases, such as on some special types of cars (e.g. The only combination that was actually skipped was WC in Madrid and Barcelona. Also allowed were combinations with potential political connotations, such as HB (cf. Other potentially offensive combinations, however, were allowed, such as KK (resembling caca, meaning " shit") and PN (resembling pene, meaning " penis"). This meant that, for instance, Z was followed by AB, while AN was followed by AP and then AS, and PZ was followed by SB. No "counter" series used the consonants Q and R (and Q has never been allowed in any way, the apparent reason for this being its resemblance to the vowel O and the digit 0), while two-letter combinations ending in the vowels A, E, I and O were also forbidden, apparently to avoid the forming of potentially offensive Spanish words when combined with some province codes (such as MA-LA, meaning "bad one", or CU-LO, meaning " arse"). The second system used the format XXX-NNNN-YY, where XXX was the province code or a one- two- or three-letter special code (such as ET for army cars and DGP for police cars), NNNN was a sequence number from 0000 to 9999 (always four-digit numbers, padded with leading zeroes if necessary), and YY was a "counter" series consisting of one and then two letters, which incremented after the sequence number reached 9999. Today, there are a few rare cases where the blue EU country identifier strip is also carried, as plates are reissued in new format but with the same number sequence when deteriorated or lost. In the later years of this system, many plates were white with black characters. Older vehicles with such registrations, usually with five- or six-digit numbers, can still be seen on Spanish roads. This system came to an end in October 1971, by which time both Madrid and Barcelona were approaching the number 999999. In the earliest days, some provinces used three-letter codes, but these were abolished after 1926. The codes were normally made up of the first one or two letters of the province name or the name of the provincial capital (many provinces are named after their capitals), under the provisions of a 1926 regulation. The first system, introduced in 1900, consisted of a letter code denoting the province the vehicle was registered in (the full list of codes appears below), followed by a sequence number of up to six digits ( XXX-NNNNNN). Two previous systems have been used, both of which were province-based. The plates are usually rectangular and wide in shape, but there are also square-like plates for motorcycles, while some cars have a narrow plate inset (such as at the back of the SEAT 600). The plates themselves are white with black characters, front and back, with a blue strip on the left containing the 12 stars of the flag of Europe and the country identifier E (for EspaƱa). At the current rate of approximately five series per decade, the system will be exhausted around 2040. In August 2022 the three-letter counter reached the L-series, which began with MBB. The "counter" gives a rough idea of when the vehicle was registered, but is less reliable for determining its age, as imported second-hand vehicles are registered in the same way as new models. This format, introduced on 18 September 2000, is used nationwide, so there is no way of knowing where the vehicle was registered. The consonants B, C, D, F, G, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, R, S, T, V, W, X, Y and Z are used for a total of 80 million possible registrations in the system. ![]() LLL is a "counter" comprising three letters, which increments after the sequence number reaches 9999.nnnn is a sequence number from 0000 to 9999,.Spain currently uses the format of L nnnn LLL where: ![]() The government agency responsible for the registration and numbering of vehicles is the Directorate General of Traffic. Most motor vehicles which are used on public roads are required by law to display them. Vehicle registration plates are the mandatory number plates used to display the registration mark of a vehicle, and have existed in Spain since 1900. ![]()
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