Driving in Spain The Spanish Highway Code is reputed to be the most comprehensive in Europe and sections of the Code also cover such items as first-aid, vehicle maintenance and even the loads (and types of loads) carried by vehicles and we would highly recommend reading before driving here as the are some significant differences to other countries. A warning for law-breakers comes in a polite (but clearly ominous) warning in the Highway Code which says, ‘The Spanish Traffic Police are considered efficient in applying their laws and it is highly recommended that if stopped, friendly cooperation with their requests should be applied Another myth to bust about here is the drink-driving laws – they are stricter than many countries and random road blocks are common-place nowadays, if you are over the limit ; you will be banned, and it doesn’t matter if your licence is British, Spanish or from any other EU country – they will ban you. Just for interest - with a Spanish licence, drivers start with twelve points and lose some, or all of them, depending on any offence offences. Types of roads in Spain Autopista (Motorway) which are toll roads requiring payment. Spain has more than 2,000 kilometres of roads which are subject to Toll payment. They are however, well maintained. The cost of the tolls is calculated per kilometre travelled by the vehicle – the payment is either charged either at the beginning of a Toll road or when exiting. The "Automatico" lane is for paying by Credit Card or by the exact change. The lanes for handling the change when necessary are all marked with a green arrow. An Autovia is the same as the Autopista – but there are no tolls. A Carretera Nacional - which is prefixed fix with N or CN, indicates a major road and a maximum speed of 90 KPH, whereas a Carretera Comarcal (prefix C) is considered a minor road with a speed limit of 50 KPH. That leaves the Carretera Local which is a rural road and has the same limit of 50 KPH and the Urbano which is a road in a built up area and which restricts vehicles to 20 KPH. If you should break the speed limit the Guardia will give you a fine (on the spot) based on the speed you were going. The latest info is 6€ for every kilometre over the limit. Other offences are calculated, more or less, at the discretion of the officer present. TIP: The other thing to remember is that if you have a foreign registered car and are doing something illegal – such as parking on a yellow kerb etc. you will get towed. A foreign car, illegally parked, is not a good idea.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:33:14 +0000
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