What happens if you receive a Traffic fine notification?

average speed cameras in Spain
drones to monitor traffic in Spain

The DGT will advise you of a fine by post or electronic notification if registered through the DEV (Dirección Electrónica Vial). The DEV is an electronic system normally only used by legal entities and not physical people.

If you are not at home to receive the postal notification of your fine then the sanction will be published in TESTRA and the Tablón Edictal Único del BOE (TUE). It is considered that you have been notified 20 days after the publication on one of the above.

TESTRA is the Edictal Board of Traffic Sanctions of the DGT and TEU is the Single Edictal Board of the BOE.  The Tablón Edictal Único del BOE (TUE) is a means by which Spanish government departments can advise citizens of administrative decisions that affect them when they have been unable to contact them by post.

IMPORTANT: THE DGT NEVER ADVISE YOU OF A TRAFFIC FINE BY EMAIL. IF YOU GET AN EMAIL ABOUT A ROAD TRAFFIC FINE IN SPAIN THEN IT IS A SCAM.

If you are away from your Spanish home for a significant amount of time, then you may want to purchase a Fine Notification Policy. This low-cost service will ensure you receive an email and/or text message (Spanish mobiles only) if a vehicle registered in your name appears on the BOE (TUE) and the authorities have not been able to deliver the usual postal notification.

It might also come in useful if other family members are using your car in your holiday home. They may have accidentally incurred a traffic infringement whilst using your car and if you are not in Spain you will not know.

Notification of a fixed traffic camera in Spain is legal

Notification of a fixed traffic camera in Spain is legal

Many people use applications such as google maps, sat navs or similar to help them when they are driving. A lot of these provide a warning when approaching a traffic camera. There is some confusion about whether this is legal or not.

The notification of a fixed traffic camera in Spain is legal.

In fact, the DGT publish a list of where you can find out where all the fixed traffic cameras are located throughout Spain. The officials charged with road safety also use mobile traffic cameras and their exact location is not published. Mobile cameras will not feature on applications such as google maps.

What is not legal are devices that block the radar and stop it functioning. The use of such a device could lead to a fine of up to 6,000 euros and a loss of 6 points from your licence.

Devices that detect nearby radars are also illegal. These devices carry a fine of 200 euros plus a loss of 3 points from your licence.

However, a device that advises you from a database that there is a fixed radar ahead, such as google maps or sat navs are not illegal on Spanish roads.

Traffic fines are notified by post. For some people the postal service is not reliable. If you want to guarantee notification of a traffic fine then you could join a growing number of people who contract an automatic notification of a traffic fine product.

Automatic notification of traffic fines in Spain

Automatic notification of traffic fines in Spain

(Updated 2023) Most of us have at some time exceeded the speed limit during our years of driving. The result could be a speeding fine from attentive traffic police or an unseen helicopter hovering overhead searching for traffic infringements.

Some of us may have committed other traffic infractions that, perhaps through ignorance, we hadn’t even realise we were committing.

The result could be a fine and points on our driving licence. However, the fine notification might not arrive until several months later. This may be long after we have forgotten about the incident.

Apart from our memory there are other problems with these notifications. They are sent by post.

How are Spanish traffic fines notified ?

Firstly, whilst I have every respect for post office delivery workers who have to deal with perhaps 20,000 properties all under the same post code, post does go astray. Also a lot of people living in the countryside in Spain frequently experience problems with mail delivery.

traffic finses in spain
Photo: DGT.es

Secondly, if you move house have you remembered to change the registered address of your car in Spain? The advice of a traffic fine may well be delivered but are you still living at that address?

Normally, if you pay the traffic fine within 20 days then you only have to pay half the amount. If you want to dispute the fine, because it appears to be a mistake, then this must be done within 30 days of it being received.

However, if the authorities don’t receive payment or an appeal then the full amount becomes automatically due. Late payment will also result in a surcharge.

The tax authorities take over management of the fine if it remains unpaid. The tax authorities will then try to contact you. In the meantime, the fine may attract further surcharges.

Embargoed accounts and other asset seizure

If the fine continues to be unpaid the tax authorities will start the process of embargoing your bank accounts. If there is insufficient money in the bank they will resort to other measures. This could be to take the money directly from your salary or embargo other assets such as property.

Postal delivery in some areas is not the best and a change of address with the Regional Traffic Office is probably not at the top of our list of people and businesses to advise of a relocation.

How can I receive notification of traffic fines in Spain automatically?

Well, if you are not good at keeping the Spanish authorities up to date with your current location or your postal service is not reliable then the best way to ensure you receive notification of any traffic fines in Spain is by contracting a product that automatically advises you if the Spanish authorities have been unsuccessful in contacting you by post.

For just 21 euros a year (2023) you can purchase a service whereby a company will scan the daily records of traffic fines issued but where it has not been possible to notify the recipient by post. If they find something they will advise you by text or email. You can then arrange to make the payment, taking advantage of any early payment reduction, or appeal if it appears to be an error.

If it turns out that the infraction was impossible (perhaps some criminal has cloned your registration or you had sold the car) then the product provider will help you to appeal the fine.

The service is provided to the individual so it does not matter how many cars you have. The person who is the owner of the car should take the product. If a couple have numerous cars, some in one partner’s name and some in another, then they should take the product each.

Interested? Fill the form in below and we will explain.

Example: 34 60000000