You can get you Spanish plated car insured in the uk it might be a little more than for the same car in right hand drive but you will be able to get it done.
When you have arrived in Tenerife have a look at this company on the web
http://www.abbeygateinsurance.com/ they will insure there without any problems.
If you intend to bring an English plated car to Spain or any of the islands then you ought to read this as well as this was what I had to do to get my car put on Spanish plates.
One of the things you have to consider is is the car worth taking with you when you move. I don't mean this comment to be rude against you or your car but I say it because you have to think about the economic side of the import.
You can keep a UK registered car legally in Spain for a max of 6 months then you my register it with Spanish plates and that is where the economic part I was talking about come in.
At some stage you will have to get from the DVLA a certificate of permanent export, and I would suggest you do that when the car tax runs out I would suggest you look here
http://www.dvla.gov.uk/vehicles/regveh_whatmustido.htm for all the info on doing the UK side.
1. When you come to register you car in Spain you will first have to get a full written Technical report from your local Motor Technical Engineer which in my case cost me €60.
2. Next you will have to take your car together with the technical report to you local ITV which is the English version of an MOT testing Station. When you get there they will fail you car even if it is very new because of the head light pointing the wrong way so I would suggest you get them changed before you go for the MOT. The test is very much like it is in the UK only you drive your car from stage to stage of each test while they play. If all goes well with the test we move on to stage 3.
3. You will then have to locate you local equivalent of our DVLA go there with all the paper work for the car including Spanish car insurance and pay you car tax for want of a better word, which for me was €1,850, but before you shoot yourself that is a 1 off payment a kind of import fee and the cost depends on the type, make, size, Cc etc of the car. At this stage you should get issued with you new car registration number to replace your UK one.
4. The next stage is to go to your local town hall to pay you local car tax which you have to each year, again this cost depends on the type, make, size etc of your car. In my case it was €165. You will get a reminder just like in the UK when this is due, nice of them don't you think.
If you do not speak Spanish, and I sure hope at least one of you does it is a very daunting project importing a car, luckily my wife is Spanish so that solved that problem for me. You also need to be aware that, at least in my case and Spanish was spoken, just like any UK government department friendliness and helpfulness is not there greatest commodities and remember the Spanish way of life manana manana and the opening and closing times of these departments.
If I can help any more please post here, also if anything is done different down Tenerefe way I am sure somebody will pop up here and tell you.
May I wish you good luck on your quest and hope you have a happy life here in Spain.
