Tumbit's take on Spain : Mr Grumpy

It is pretty well documented  throughout the world by now, that the majority of developed Nations are in the middle of a downturn in the economy. Governments and other enterprises are having to evolve and adapt in order to continue to generate funds from other sources and by different methods. The Guardia in Spain have been no exception to this and showed commendable enterprising spirit by ruthlessly and mercilessly persecuting Motorists over the tiniest detail Imaginable – the question is : Is this to Fine and deter Motorists breaking "The Law" or simply to top up the funds for the Christmas Party?

After a few Cerveza's I asked around the Local Bar to see if anybody else had heard of specific examples of any abuses from the Guardia, and as you can imagine a barrage of moans came back to me. In many cases it seemed, the Guardia were acting correctly, and that my drinking companions didn't see any reason why they should have been stopped and fined for not wearing a seat belt or speeding, or whatever... but there were a few other cases where the "On the Spot Fine" seemed inappropriate.

such examples included...

• Wearing Sandals or Flip-flops whilst driving (Ok, so some types of Flip Flop can get stuck under a Pedal, I get that - But not All types of Sandal....  Crocs surely are ok?)
• Not switching off the Cars Headlights on coming out of a Tunnel (Eh? - Not switching them on I get, But what harm can be done by not switching them off?)
• Not having a Guard fitted between the Boot of the Car and the rear seats when you have a dog in the car (Apparently the dog can jump over the back seat and attack the driver)
• Not providing an original (Not Photocopy) receipt to prove payment of Previous (Not just current!) Road Taxes.
• Not having a board fitted in a Box Van to separate the Drivers area from the Goods area.

Car number plates are also being monitored at the Tolls and stopped for making "Too Many" Trips to the Airport (What? - It seems that the Union of Taxi Drivers believe that most of us Ex-Pats are not just doing a mate a favour by running him to the airport, but actively taking their business away from them and leaning on the Guardia to fine these "Illegal" Taxi's)

There are already a few Motoring Laws in Spain which are not applicable in the UK that it is advisable to be aware of, but it seems that the Guardia have recently started to enforce them more rigorously - and even invented a few new ones to catch everybody out! My advise would be to read up on the (Documented) Motoring Laws in Spain (even Print them out and Keep them in your Car as a reminder) and simply to apply common sense whenever you are out on a journey and not to give the Guardia any excuse to stop you for any reason.

Happy Motoring!