If you have a car in Spain then you must have insurance. This is a legal obligation. If you have parked up the car in your underground parking because you are not using it you still have to maintain a car insurance policy. It doesn’t matter that you are not going to take it on the road or it is broken and unable to be driven.
At least a third party insurance is needed in case your vehicle causes damage to others. Although the car is in the garage there is still a possible risk of an electrical short circuit, for example. The Spanish law states that all owners of motor vehicles in Spain must have an insurance for each of those vehicles with at least the minimum obligatory cover required by the law.
A car without insurance could incur a penalty of between 600 and around 3,000 euros. It could also be that the authorities take the vehicle to a municipal compound if the position is not rectified within a few days.
The only time a vehicle in Spain is not obliged to have insurance is when it is registered officially with the traffic authorities as off the road either temporarily or permanently.
How often
have you been travelling on a motorway and seen another driving sitting in the
middle lane or even circulating in the left most lane whilst there is no
traffic in the right hand lane?
These “left
lane syndrome” suffers, as they are known in Spain, cause traffic queues,
sudden braking and sometimes accidents.
The regulations
The driving
regulations on Spanish roads do not allow you to overtake using a right hand
lane, except in special circumstances mentioned below. Therefore, a vehicle in
the middle lane is taking up two lanes and one in the left hand lane is blocking
three lanes of traffic. Under normal traffic conditions in Spain, you should
always be circulating in the lane furthest to the right-hand side. If there is
a second and/or third lane to the left then these are used for overtaking. Once
an overtaking manoeuvre is complete, you should return to the right-hand lane once
more.
We have probably
all come across a driver, travelling below the speed limit and using the left
hand lane whilst there is no traffic to the right. This can cause the driver
behind to brake suddenly causing a ripple effect with the vehicles behind or
even more serious consequences.
Fines and loss of points
The driver continuing to drive in the left lane whilst not overtaking traffic is breaking the road traffic laws. If caught they could be fined 200 euros. However, before you decide to pass on the right you should be aware it is also a serious infraction of article 82 of the Road Traffic regulations. Overtaking on the right may result in a fine of several hundred euros and the loss of four points from your driving licence.
Exceptions
One of the
few occasions you can pass on the right hand side of another vehicle is if you
are in a traffic jam. If the lanes of traffic are moving slowly, it might be
that at some stage the right hand lane moves slightly faster than the left hand
lane. This results in you overtaking traffic using the lane on the right hand
side of a motorway, for example. This is not an infraction of article 82 but does
depend on the density of traffic and speed.
Another
example might be on a slip road when entering the motorway or when a certain
lane is designated for a particular type of vehicle to circulate.
Remember, you should circulate in the right hand lane unless you are overtaking another vehicle. Additionally, overtaking on the right is a serious traffic offence that can result in a fine and loss of points on your licence.
Drivers in Spain start with 8 points on their driving licence when they pass their test. So do those who have lost their licence previously and receive it back after serving their penalty.
After three years and assuming the driver has not lost any points the total increases to twelve. If you don’t commit any infractions for a period of three years the traffic authority will add two points to your total. After another three years, you can gain an additional point up to a maximum of 15 points.
Points are lost when a driver in Spain is caught breaking the road traffic laws. It depends on the seriousness of the offence as to how many, if any points are lost.
Probably the most frequent cause of a loss of points on your Spanish driving licence is speeding. If the speed limit is 50 kph and you are doing between 51 and 70 kph you will incur a fine but you won’t lose any points on your driving licence. However, if you are caught doing 71kph in a 50kph zone then you will be fined and lose two points. Over 80kph and the points lost rises to 4 and then 6 for 91kph plus. Below is a table showing both the fine and the points lost. You may want to read more about Speed limits in Spain here.
Fines and points lost for speeding in Spain
There are plenty of other reasons you can lose points on your Spanish driving licence. Some of them are listed below:
Description
Points lost
1
Driving with excess alcohol in the bloodstream.
4-6
2
Driving under the influence of drugs.
6
3
Refusing to give an alcohol or drugs test.
6
4
Driving recklessly, in the opposite direction or participating in illegal races.
6
5
Driving with equipment installed that prohibits traffic surveillance and radar detection.
6
6
Exceeding by 50% the time permitted to drive or taking less than 50% of the time for a rest as defined in the legislation for road transport vehicles.
6
7
Altering the tachometer or the speed restriction of a vehicle.
6
8
Driving without the appropriate category of licence.
4
9
Throwing objects into the road that could cause a fire, an accident or block traffic circulation.
4
10
Not respecting Stop, give way signs or traffic lights on red.
4
11
Improper overtaking.
4
12
Overtaking and putting cyclists in danger.
4
13
Changing direction where prohibited.
4
14
Reversing on a motorway or dual carriageway.
4
15
Not respecting the instructions from a policeman directing traffic.
4
16
Not maintaining a safe distance behind the vehicle in front.
4
17
Driving whilst using the mobile telephone, programming your Sat Nav, using headphones or other devices that may reduce your attention.
3
18
Driving without your seatbelt, or without appropriate systems of retention for children.
3
19
Driving whilst your licence is suspended or prohibited to use this type of vehicle
Despite what you might see, especially in some smaller towns, there are rules for parking in Spain and a series of signs and road markings to help you avoid getting it wrong. Fines are high and the inconvenience of marching from one building to another to settle up with the police and then the compound will ruin your day.
You will often see people double parked, hazard lights on whilst they drop the children off at school, visit the cigarette shop or in some rare cases actually sit in a nearby restaurant and have dinner. As you would expect this is illegal, as is parking on a zebra crossing or too close to a junction.
There are a number of road markings and signage that help you understand where you can park in Spain. Here we will attempt to point out some of those rules to help you avoid unnecessary traffic fines in Spain or perhaps worse having your car towed away to the municipal compound.
Let’s start with some basics. A large white letter “P” on a blue background or a variation is pretty common worldwide and means you can park your vehicle. You may be asked to park side by side with either the nose of the vehicle or the rear of the vehicle up against the kerb. This is known as “estacionamiento en bateria”.
The alternative is “estacionamiento en linea” where you park with the nose of your vehicle behind the rear of the car in front.
However what about the signs below? What do they mean?
fig.1
fig. 2
fig.3
fig. 4
fig. 5
fig. 6
fig. 7
fig. 8
fig. 9
A round sign with a red border, blue background and a red cross (fig.1) means that you cannot park. It also means you can’t stop and drop someone off or pick someone up.
The version with just one red line also means you cannot park but you can drop someone off or pick someone up (fig. 2).
These signs can be accompanied by an array of words or numbers which alter the meaning. For example, if it has what looks like a capital letter “I” in the middle then means that you cannot park in this area on odd days (fig.3). If the sign has what looks like the capital letter “I” twice then you cannot park on even number days. So if it is the first of January you cannot park on a street with the sign shown in fig.3. However, you could park there on the second or the fourth or sixth.
There are other variations on this theme. You might see “Mes Par” written on the sign in white writing (fig.4). This means that you cannot park in the zone when a month is an even number, that would be February, April, June etc.. Alternatively if it says “Mes Impar” (fig. 5) then that indicates no parking in January, March, May etc. Fig. 9 tells you that you cannot park in the zone from the 15th to the 31st of the month. Maybe there is one on the other side of the road marked “1-14”.
Other signage indicates that you cannot park in a zone on certain days, between certain hours. This sign (fig. 6) indicates that you cannot park to the left of it between 08:00 and 14:00 or between 16:30 and 20:30 on working days, unless you are loading or unloading. So, you can park in this area on Saturday or Sunday or public holidays. You can also park here at 21:00 at night or at 15:00 in the afternoon.
I cannot speak for all of Spain but the sign shown in fig. 7 has become prevalent in the area where I live. This sign is restricting where you can park your scooter or motorbike. It is usually put at the entrance to a street and states that scooters, mopeds and motorbikes can only be parked in designated zones. That means you cannot park them anywhere else in the street. If you choose to ignore it and park in the street outside of the designated zone you could be fined and/or towed away. The designated zones for these vehicles are usually painted with white lines or yellow lines. The word “moto” is also painted on the ground.
The “prohibido estacionar or vado” (fig. 8 click on the image to see full size) are often erected outside the entrances to car parks underneath blocks of flats, entrances to businesses or private garages. They are purchased from the local town hall. Basically, they give the owner of the sign the right to call the police and have your vehicle towed away if you are blocking their entrance.
In Spain a single solid yellow line near the kerb also means no parking.
There are other road markings that will help you stay the right side of the parking laws. Parking bays painted with white paint usually mean that the parking is unrestricted. If the bays are painted with blue paint then there is normally a limit to how long you can park and/or there may be a fee to pay in the nearby parking meter to. If you exceed your time in the blue parking zone you may be fined. The penalty can be settled immediately, using the same machine you bought your ticket at. This will result in a reduced fine and is far more convenient. The ticket machine will have an option to pay the fine.
You can also appeal against the fine you have received. However, if you pay a fine promptly you receive a 50% discount. If you decide to contest the fine and lose you will also lose the right to the 50% discount and will have to pay the full amount.
If you wish to provide evidence against the fine this must be done within 20 days after receiving the notification.
What do you do if you receive traffic fines in Spain but you weren’t the driver?
Assuming you don’t want to be held responsible for the offence and fine then you will need to provide the details of the driver of your vehicle to the authorities.
There is a list of necessary information you will need to provide to the authorities about the driver of your vehicle. You must provide this within 20 days of receiving the notification of the traffic offence.
It is also possible to pay the fine in person at one of the Provincial Traffic department offices or in cash at Caixabank in Spain. If using the bank please make sure the correct and full reference details etc are included in the payment.
