The Spanish traffic authorities increased the fines for violation of the speed limits on the Spanish roads and introduced strict sanctions against speed offenders.
A signal for Spanish as well as foreign drivers
The traffic department Dirección General de Tráfico (DGT) declared in connection to the new rules, that ‘we (the traffic police) can basically write speeding tickets at a speed limit violation of 1 km/h (0.6 mi/h) and that one shouldn’t trust existing margin of errors in the speedometer regardless of type and model’.
The reform of the Road Traffic Act in Spain, which came into force May 9th 2014, has been publically known and has been on the way for some months and attaches great importance to speed limits and tickets for speeding violations.
Speeding tickets in Spain are automatically collected – sign with radar control.
© Photo: Porto-Airport-car-rental.com
In all probability, there can get a ticket for a 1 km/h (0.6 mi/h) violation in Spain, if one might run into a Spanish police officer, who has had a very bad day – or if the circumstances speak for a ‘strict’ interpretation of the rules.
There is, however, no doubt that the Spanish traffic police will be very strict with the drivers, who in Spain constantly drives with a speed of 8-12 km/h (5-7.5 mi/h) more than allowed speed on the motorway network.
Speed limits on highway (some routes) has been increased and speed limits within the urban areas has been lowered (selected areas)
The speed limit has been increased from 120 km/h (75 mi/h) to 130 km/h (80mi/h) on chosen routes of the highway in Spain. Simultaneously the speed limits in many urban areas have been lowered from 30 km/t (18.6 mi/h) to 20 km/h (12.4 mi/h).
It is possible for motorists to receive speeding fines without being stopped by the police.
Even more speed cameras have been put up in Spain and the fines will automatically be sent by mail
Is the new Road Traffic Act just another cash cow?
The tough economic times in Spain with an all-time high unemployment rate has put a damper on the desire and possibility of many to drive their car unless it’s absolutely necessary.
Spanish motoring organisations (equivalent to the British Automobile Association/AA or the German ADAC) thinks that a decrease in the traffic on the Spanish roads (30 percent since the beginning of the crisis), should be compensated for by issuing the fines automatically
Offenders could technically be fined for violating the speed limit by one kilometre per hour, if the traffic department was to decide.
If one choses to pay the fine within 20 days the fixed-penalty notice will be reduced to half the amount, probably hoping that the offenders pay without spending time researching if it has been correctly assigned the motoring organisations Devuelta and AEA say concurrently.
DGT, on the other hand, thinks that the Road Traffic Act has been changed to pre-empt a lot of fatal accidents on the Spanish roads and not to collect money for the lank Municipal Treasurer’s Departments all over the country.
Spanish speeding tickets – fines with the new speed limits in Spain
If one drives 1-20 km/h (0.6-12.4 mi/h) too fast compared to the speed limit of the road, it will cost €100 (€50 if paid within 20 days). The fine can go as high as €600 – that too goes for rental cars and cars that are not Spanish registered. Therefore, a big and expensive surprise can be waiting, on the return from the Spanish vacation, in the shape of a letter from the Spanish police, if you’re caught speeding in Spain
See the New table over Spanish speed limits in connection to violating the permitted speed limits.
