After studying the 254 page driving manual, I sat for the theory part of the license exam. There were thirty multiple-choice questions and you cannot miss more than 10% and pass the test. Most first time takers do not do so. I consider myself fortunate in only missing 2 questions. So I passed. I had a number of moped and motorcycle questions of which I was not certain of the answers. So I might have missed a few of those.
To pass the driving portion of the test, you must practice on a car from your driving school and use it for the evaluation. None of the driving schools within a 50 mile radius of here, have automatic cars. They are not considered macho enough for Spaniards. As you know, our Hyundai is automatic. So last Monday, I rented a bottom of the line 5-speed shift car to practice with for a few days. Cliff, who is an excellent driver in both shift and automatic cars and those with right hand or left hand drive, drove the rental to a semi-deserted warehouse area for me to practice. First, I just shifted the gears with the clutch without the engine on. Soon I started to drive it and to our amazement, actually drove it reasonably well. I did not stall it or do any herky-jerky movements. I was so confident that I drove it back towards home including on the expressway. I did pull over to where we had left our car so that Cliff could drive the rental up the hill and the winding one-lane roads to our house. The next morning I drove the shift car by myself up and down the hills and to the center of a nearby town. Again, I drove it home without incident. Hopefully, this practice will stand me in good stead when I take the driving lessons at the auto school and on the exam.
This Sunday we are having an open house and invited friends and acquaintances to join us.