Getting the C licence in Spain: €700 that don't guarantee a job

C licence: a €700 investment and a closed job market

September 2013. A driving school in Spain offers the C licence for €700, with four attempts at the theory test and unlimited practical lessons until you pass. The price sounds like a bargain. The problem isn't the price: it's that the road haulage sector has long had its older drivers out of work and the new generations with no way in. The question that opens this issue isn't whether the licence is expensive, but whether it's worth anything.

The €700 calculation doesn't add up

The first serious answer to the quote comes with a warning: that offer is impossible as it stands. You have to ask for the breakdown because there's usually a hidden enrolment fee, and the C licence doesn't stand alone. To drive professionally you need the CPC (Certificate of Professional Competence), mandatory from day one for new licences, and the BTP, which is obtained alongside the C and is required for taxis, ambulances and fire engines. On top of that come the ADR, tankers or crane operation if you want to broaden your profile. The real cost moves away from €700 and towards an investment of several thousand if you chain licences together.

The CPC and the BTP: what the offer doesn't include

The CPC isn't an optional extra: without it you can't drive a truck. For those who already held the licence before the regulation came in, the deadline was staggered according to the last digit of their national ID number, with dates stretching to 2016. For new licences, however, it has been mandatory from the very first day. The BTP is obtained alongside the C and opens the door to taxis, ambulances and fire engines, not to freight transport. The €700 offer, at best, covers only part of the package.

Experience as a barrier to entry

The most repeated argument is that without experience there's no job, and without a job there's no experience. Hauliers with years on the road are unemployed, and companies prefer already-trained profiles. One concrete case: someone who got their C, C+E, ADR, tanker, crane and forklift certificates the previous year found nothing and ended up buying a taxi licence in Madrid to be able to work. A CV full of certificates doesn't replace the phone number of a contact who can get you into the company.

Which companies should you send your CV to?

The most honest answer is that without a prior contact, none of them will reply. The sector runs on connections and favouritism, especially in buses, where there are fewer companies and also cutbacks. Published job ads ask for a C licence plus forklift certification and get dozens of applicants. Delivery transport has less competition than long-haul, but the conditions are what they are: a thousand euros gross and exploitation, according to testimonies from the sector.

The route that does work: emigrating

C+E with ADR in Germany means employment and good pay, with just basic German. Someone who got it during the height of the bubble and couldn't find anything in Spain used it to emigrate to the United Kingdom. France also comes up as a destination where Spanish drivers are valued. The paradox: the licence that opens no doors here works as a lifeline abroad.

Subsidised courses: the public employment office lottery

The alternative to paying up front is courses run by trade unions and the SERVEF (Valencian employment service). Someone got their C plus CPC practically free, paying only the exam fees. But the courses never come around: the office doesn't know when the subsidised course starts and there are more interested people than places. Subsidised training exists on paper and is scarce in practice.

The C licence isn't expensive. It's an entry ticket to a sector that isn't hiring. If you have a godfather, a destination abroad or savings to wait it out, you can give it a try. If you're looking for work by sending CVs cold, you're going to eat that €700 with a side of fries.