CHANGES have come into force in Spain's road traffic legislation, imposing tougher penalties for the most common offences.
The points-based licence in Spain starts with a full quota of 12, and these are deducted for breaking the law, with a loss of all 12 leading to an automatic ban.
Most of the amendments to the highways law, which came into effect on Monday (March 21), involve higher numbers of points deducted for the more 'typical' breaches, such as speeding.
What are the most frequent fines for?
According to Formaster, the overwhelming majority of driving offences which see motorists fined on Spanish roads relate to speeding – in fact, 65% of fines dished out in 2021 were for breaking the limit.
Of these, seven in 10 fines were the result of speeding cars being caught on camera, or radar.
Driving too fast is by far the most common breach of road traffic laws, a long way ahead of the second-most frequent – that of using a vehicle with an out-of-date or failed ITV.
The ITV is Spain's equivalent of the MOT test in the UK, or a compulsory State-conducted regular inspection; generally, cars under four years old do not have to take one, unless they are former hire cars or courtesy vehicles, in which case the owner will receive a letter instructing them to arrange a test at the nearest accredited centre in their home region; cars between four and 10 years old require them every two years, and at 10 years old and over, every year.
The pass sticker must be displayed prominently at the top of the windscreen, and will show the date of expiry.
Failing a test means the owner has 30 days to get the faults resulting in an unsuccessful result fixed and to put the vehicle through the ITV again – during that time, the car cannot be driven except to a workshop for repairs, or to the test centre.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com