NEARLY one in four drivers on Spain's roads are under the influence of drugs, shock figures from the highways and motoring authority reveals.
For every 100 motorists pulled over for random saliva tests, 36 showed up positive results - or 3,600 this year out of the 10,000 or so carried out.
And when standard testing is carried out at the site of a crash, the figure rises to half - only 50% of results were negative.
Head of the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT), María Seguí says these statistics are a source of 'great concern' for her department, which has been claiming for many months that consumption of illegal drugs by drivers was on the up.
This is why twice as many drug tests have been carried out in 2014 as last year.
Drink-driving is becoming more rare, with only 2% of drivers breathalysed found to have consumed alcohol, but Sra Seguí says this is not such a low figure as it sounds.
Of the three million breathalysed so far in 2014, the 2% means a total of 60,000.
Effectively, it means that every day in every province in Spain, six drivers on the road are over the limit - or for every 50 cars that pass you, one is driven by someone who has had too much to drink.
And another 18 of them will have taken drugs.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com