Driving in Spain - What You Need To Know

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Andalucia Life

Jan

2010

Driving in Spain - What You Need To Know

Written by Paul Whitelock

DRIVING in Spain can be an absolute pleasure with thousands of kilometers of open road with stunning scenery. Here PAUL WHITELOCK introduces you to the rules and regulations of driving in Spain.

Driving Licences and other Documentation

If you are a UK resident and your licence was issued after 1990 you can legally drive in Spain. However, if your licence was issued before 1990 you need an official translation into Spanish (available from the Spanish Embassy in London and the Real Automóvil Club de España if the licence holder is already in Spain). Holders of older licences may prefer to use an International Licence.

If you are from outside the EU, you will need an International Driving Licence issued by the correct authority in your home country. It must have one page of information in Spanish.

If you are an EU citizen visiting Spain, and you are driving a foreign-registered vehicle you must carry with you:

Your passport, which must be valid for the period you are staying in Spain.
Current driving licence, preferably the EU type with the ring of stars.
All documents relating to the vehicle including vehicle registration (V5), MOT, motor vehicle tax and valid insurance.
If the vehicle is not registered in your name, it’s a good idea to carry a letter from the registered owner giving you permission to drive.
In addition, your vehicle must comply with all aspects of the equipment section below.

If you are driving a Spanish-registered vehicle you must carry these documents: permiso de circulación, ITV (MOT) sticker displayed on the windscreen, motor vehicle tax and valid insurance.

Note that you can be fined for non-compliance and the fines can be very heavy. As a non-resident you can expect to be fined on the spot (with a generous 30% discount)! The police have even been known to accompany drivers to cash machines to withdraw funds. If this happens to you, make sure you get a receipt from the issuing officer. Some authorities also operate special, or “Rapid Justice” courts and you may find yourself up in front of one of these.

Equipment for the car

Seat-belts (where fitted) must be worn by all passengers and by the driver, except when parking or reversing. Those excluded from this rule include pregnant women, disabled passengers or anyone suffering from a grave medical condition. In such cases a medical certificate in Spanish, or an official translation of it, if it has been issued elsewhere, must be carried at all times when the vehicle is in motion. Failure to comply is considered a serious offence.

Children under 12 are not allowed in the front (unless at least 135 cm in height). In the rear, passengers under 135cm tall must use specially adapted safety devices and restraints. Children under three years of age must use child seats.

Dogs and other animals must be restrained when travelling in the vehicle. Usually this means a properly constructed and fitted dog guard, or a body harness and restraining lead. In Spain it is illegal to leave a dog in a car, even with the windows slightly open. If you do and the dog is in distress and the police are called, they have the the authority to smash the windows. Even if they don’t, the animal rescue authorities who will be called by the police will certainly break into the car if they judge it necessary. Very expensive all round.

Set of spare lamps/bulbs and fuses, and correctly functioning spare wheel for your car AND the tools to change them must be carried in the vehicle.

First Aid kit and fire extinguisher are not compulsory but we recommend that you carry one of each.

GB stickers: UK registered vehicles displaying Euro-plates (circle of 12 stars above the national identifier on blue background) no longer need a GB sticker when driving in EU countries.

Spare pair of corrective spectacles must be carried in the vehicle at all times if the driver wears them for driving.

Headlamp converters are compulsory if you have a right-hand drive vehicle where the lights have not been converted for driving on the left.

Use of radar detection equipment is against the law – even carrying such equipment in the vehicle is an offence.

Mobile phones – you are not permitted to operate a mobile phone while driving unless it is part of a true “hands-free” device. Even stopping the car is not sufficient. You must pull off the road completely away from any traffic. You may not use an earpiece to operate the phone or, come to that, any “sound device”. Medically approved hearing aids are an exception.

Navigation aids and DVD players, etc - As the law stands at the moment, drivers must not use any screen-based aid to navigation – e.g. SATNAV - or any entertainment device – e.g. DVD player - while driving on the road.

Approved Reflective Vests for use in cases of accident, breakdown or other emergency, are compulsory in Spain. There is some confusion about how many should be carried. Common sense suggests that there should be a vest for every occupant. The vests must be carried inside the vehicle so that they are available to be put on before exiting the vehicle. They must be visible from outside the vehicle. They must be worn at all times when they would be required – not just at night or in poor visibility.

Warning triangles are compulsory, two, in fact – they must be of a make and design officially approved by the Ministerio del Interior, bearing a round symbol E9 and the code 27R03. You are required to carry two of them. On roads which have two-way traffic, you should display one in front and one behind the vehicle at minimum of 50 metres distance, so that they are visible to approaching vehicles from 100 metres. If it is a one-way street or a motorway/divided carriageway you need only place one triangle to warn traffic approaching from behind – at the minimum distances set out above.

Spare fuel: the various laws on this seem rather contradictory. By law, you are NOT allowed to carry spare fuel in the vehicle. On the other hand, you could well be prosecuted and fined for running out of fuel on the road. Therefore – make sure you have enough fuel to reach the next OPEN garage and be cautious about taking fuel to someone who has run out. Arriving there at the same time as the police might be embarrassing and expensive!

Drink-Drive legislation

Spain has strict drink driving laws, only allowing 0.5 milligrams of alcohol per millilitre of blood. This is stricter than the UK where the limit is 0.8. Limits are even lower for “professionals” and new drivers who are effectively forbidden to drink and drive at all. Be aware that the police are entitled to carry out random testing – and they do.

Penalties are severe - loss of licence for a statutory minimum period of 12 months, a fine or weekend arrest and immediate immobilisation of your vehicle by the police. Other variations include sentences of from 8 to 12 weekends arrest and/or a fine and in all cases a driving licence suspension from one to four years. Driving under the influence of drugs will incur similar penalties. The penalties for refusing to take a breath test are even more severe, so don't be tempted to refuse – you could be sentenced to anything from six months to one year imprisonment.

The Spanish Road system

The main Spanish road categories:

Autopista (motorway) - A or E - prefix to road number: these may be toll roads indicated by the word peaje. Maximum speed 120 kph (73 mph).

Autovía (dual carriageway) - not necessarily with a central reservation. Speed limits vary from 80 to 120 kph.

Carretera Nacional (main road) – with the road number prefix N or CN. Speed limits 100 to 60 kph

Carretera Local - highway. Speeds are as signed, but usually not more than 80-100 kph

Speeds in town usually vary from 30-50 kph

Driving

The police may appear lax but, in fact, they are a lot more active than they seem.

If you drive a right-hand drive UK-registered car and you don't speak any Spanish, you may be at additional risk if you contravene road traffic legislation. Some facts that sometimes catch people out:

On motorways, you risk being fined for not indicating before overtaking and again before pulling back to the nearside lane after overtaking. Also, ensure you do not cross the solid white line as you enter the motorway from a slip road, but wait until the line is broken.

Roundabouts which are marked with a solid white line on the approach require you to stop completely before proceeding – not just to slow down.

You may NOT overtake on the right (inside lanes) on the highways unless there is a slip road or another road indicated and you are taking it.

Take particular care at pedestrian crossings. Until recently, cars did not have to stop, unless the crossing was traffic-light controlled and the light was red. But the new penalty points law means that the drivers can now be penalised for not stopping. However, many Spanish drivers have not changed the habits of a lifetime and if you stop quickly at a crossing, you risk being rammed by the car behind – so approach cautiously and make clear your intentions to stop as early as you can.

If you are a pedestrian and want to use a crossing, remember to look LEFT and show the palm of your hand (in a stop fashion) to the approaching driver/s. Do not step out onto the crossing until the approaching vehicles have actually stopped.

Give way to traffic from the LEFT unless otherwise signed, especially on roundabouts.

This is one not many people know - public transport coming from the right always has right of way unless indicated otherwise. Watch out for buses pulling out – they don't normally even look!

Take care in short one-way streets – many a Spaniard will take a short cut by going the wrong way.

Towing another vehicle is strictly prohibited in almost any circumstances unless you are a qualified removals operator and have a correctly licensed removal vehicle (tow truck). If you are on a road that is not a motorway or dual carriageway, you are allowed to tow a vehicle a short distance to a place of safety if there is a serious obstruction and danger to other road users – but that is about it. Giving someone a tow home is an absolute no-no. Your insurance automatically covers you for free vehicle removal in the event of an accident or breakdown. The emergency number should be on your certificate. Most insurance companies also give out a small laminated card. If you don't have either – get onto your insurance company. This a “must have” number. Put it into your mobile phone if you have one, but also make sure there is copy of the number permanently in the vehicle.

Because of the high incidence of road accidents, fines for traffic offences are strictly enforced. Serious offences carry a penalty of between 300 and 600 euros. Traffic fines may be appealed in writing at the provincial traffic office where the fine was issued, as shown in the ticket.

Parking

It may look to all intents and purposes as if the Spanish park their cars wherever they want – on pavements, on pedestrian crossings, across the corners of junctions, the wrong way in one-way streets and even all round a roundabout. However, it is now possible to incur penalty points for illegal parking and there are times and places where you would be well advised to adhere to the rules.

As a general rule you may not park in Spain where the pavement curb is painted yellow or where a no parking sign is displayed. In major cities and now even the pueblos, non-metered on-street parking is difficult to find. In some areas there are parking spaces marked in blue. These are metered and you have to “Pay and Display”, buying a ticket from the nearby machine or sometimes from an attendant. These spaces are usually for about two hours maximum. Penalties for parking infringements vary from town to town and can be heavy.

Be particularly careful not to park outside private gates or garages which display an official looking sign with red circle with a blue background and a red line through it. It will almost certainly also say prohibido estacionar or vado permanente and also display a police permit number enforcing the parking restriction. The fact that there is no Spanish car already parked there is a very good indication that even the Spanish won't take a chance near these signs!

If you do park illegally, especially in a foreign car, you will quite likely become a victim of the grua (the local tow truck) and if you suffer this, there should be a sticker left on the curb with the phone number/address of the local car pound. Getting your car back will be a hassle and will cost you dearly in fines and fees, not to mention the possible problem of communication if you don’t speak Spanish.

Calling the Police

If the worst happens and you need to report an accident or an incident (attempted robbery, assault, etc) you can call in and report in English on 902 102 112. Program this into your mobile phone and keep a copy of the number in your vehicle. You can also purchase a cheap disposable camera and keep it in the car for emergencies. Note: up until now, the courts would not accept pictures taken on mobile phones because of the poor resolution of the photos. This may change with the latest phones which have resolutions approaching that of mainstream cameras (2-4 mega pixels). If you have nothing else, use your phone camera. Make sure you mark the road if possible before the vehicles are moved (why not carry a piece of white chalk in the car). You will be at a distinct disadvantage if the accident involves a Spanish driver – anything you can do to gather evidence will be to your advantage.

Phew! It may be best to leave the car at home and get taxis!

© Paul Whitelock

With acknowledgements to:

DVLA, Swansea

Real Automóvil Club de España, Madrid

SOL Classic Car Club, Fuengirola

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Driving in Spain - What You Need To Know
Thursday, 28 January 2010
DRIVING in Spain can be an absolute pleasure with thousands of kilometers of open road with stunning scenery. Here PAUL WHITELOCK introduces you...

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Comments

-1 #1 Tony 2010-02-16 23:43

Driving is such a joy here. Just this week I was stopped in my car by the police. All paperwork was in order. They found an "issue" and asked me for cash - 300 euros. Not to pay a fine, just to pay the officer cash, a bribe in other words not to take things further! Angry at this I remonstrated that I would sue and denounce the officer. He evntually waved me on after much arguing and said next time he would impound my car.

This is not an isolated incident, indeed I know of a few other frends who have been stopped and money demanded from them.

Sums up Spain - corrupt.

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0 #2 Paul 2010-03-04 07:28

Hi, Tony
I've heard of incidents like this before and I'm sorry it happened to you. But well done for not coughing up! However, this is not my experience. I was stopped by the boys in green last year. They were very polite, they checked my driving licence, but nothing else (thank goodness, cos I didn't have my car documents in the vehicle). I was also driving a British car that had been here longer than the permitted six months!
We had a nice chat about football and this and that, then they sent me on my way with a cheery wave.
As for driving in general in Spain, I find it a pleasure most of the time, especially on motorways which are comparatively vehicle-free compared with the M6, M25 and M1 in the UK.

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-1 #3 Karl 2010-03-04 10:39

Tony - guess there will always be the occasional rotten apple in the barrel in any profession :-( I don't think that what you experienced is common though.

We've been stopped by the Guadia twice and, on both occasions, experienced no problems whatsoever.

On the first occasion we were pulled over for driving with headlights on during daylight hours. After explaining that this was standard on a UK spec Volvo the officer wished us a safe journey and saluted us on our way.

On the second occasion we had unwittingly exceeded the speed limit approaching a side junction on a main road - along with approx five cars in front of us. Again, the officer, was polite but issued a official fixed ticket and offered advice as to the location and identity of the unmarked police vehicle monitoring the speeds - and also advised when it was usually used on that stretch of road. Needless to say we now always drop down to the legal speed limit when approaching such junctions. We've learnt from our original mistake and to me that's sensible policing.

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