Car parks in Spain

Rules of the road: Spain

Speed limits

In towns, the default limit depends on the street: 20 km/h where pavement and road share a single level surface, 30 km/h on streets with one lane in each direction and 50 km/h where there are 2 or more lanes in each direction. This system has applied since 11 May 2021. The local council can lower these values with signs and, on streets with one lane per direction, allow up to 50 km/h. Outside built-up areas, a car may travel at 120 km/h on motorways and dual carriageways and at 90 km/h on ordinary roads, unless a sign says otherwise.

Drinking and driving

The general limit is 0.5 grams per litre of blood or 0.25 milligrams per litre of exhaled air. If you have held your licence for less than 2 years, or you drive a lorry over 3,500 kg, a passenger bus, a public service vehicle, school transport or dangerous goods, the limit drops to 0.3 g/l in blood and 0.15 mg/l in breath. According to the DGT, anything above 0.60 mg/l in breath is a criminal offence. Every driver must take the test when an officer asks.

Phones and radar detectors

While driving you may not use a phone unless the call is completely hands free and without earphones, and driving with headphones or earbuds in is also banned. The DGT states that driving with a phone in your hand means a 200 € fine and the loss of 6 points; operating a sat nav by hand is penalised too. Radar detectors and jammers are prohibited, you may not even carry one in the car, but apps that warn you where speed checks are located remain legal.

Low emission zones

Law 7/2021 requires municipalities with more than 50,000 inhabitants to set up low emission zones, and some smaller towns have them as well. Restrictions are based on the DGT environmental badge (0, ECO, C or B), stuck in the lower right corner of the windscreen. A car with foreign plates cannot get the Spanish sticker, and each city decides how to handle it: in Barcelona you must register the vehicle before entering the Rondes LEZ and, if it does not meet the requirements, only up to 24 authorised driving days per year are granted. Check the city council website before you travel.

Parking on the street

Regulated parking (ORA, blue zone, green zone or other schemes) is set by each council: bay colours, maximum stay and price vary from one city to the next. You usually pay at the ticket machine, by cash or card, or through a mobile app. Local bylaws may allow towing or clamping if you have no ticket or stay more than three times the time paid for. A broken yellow line along the kerb means no parking; a solid one means no stopping either, and a yellow zigzag keeps the space free for buses or loading.

Breakdowns: V-16 beacon and vest

Since 1 January 2026, the connected V-16 beacon has been the only legal hazard warning device, replacing warning triangles. A DGT instruction makes clear that foreign vehicles in international traffic comply if they carry and use their own triangles. If you get out and step onto the carriageway or hard shoulder of an interurban road, put on your high visibility reflective vest. Where there is a safe place off the road, leave the vehicle on the side away from traffic; otherwise stay inside with seat belts fastened.

Roundabouts and overtaking

On a roundabout, vehicles already on the ring have priority, and at an unmarked junction you must give way to traffic coming from your right. Under the amended regulation in force since 1 October 2026, when passing a vehicle stopped in your lane (breakdown, accident, recovery or maintenance work) you must leave at least 1.5 metres of lateral clearance, even if that means using the opposite lane, and slow down by at least 20 km/h below the road's limit. Overtaking a cyclist likewise requires a minimum gap of 1.5 metres.

Tolls

On 1 September 2021, tolls ended on 262 kilometres of the AP-7 between Tarragona and La Jonquera and on 215 kilometres of the AP-2 between Zaragoza and El Vendrell. Other state motorways, such as the AP-1 and the AP-4, had already become free before that. Even so, not every motorway is free: at the time the Government calculated that only 4 in every 10 kilometres of toll motorway were being released. Before setting off, check in your navigation app whether your route includes a paid section.

Fines for non residents

If an officer reports you for an offence and you cannot prove residence in Spain, you must pay or deposit the amount of the fine on the spot in order to continue; otherwise the vehicle is immobilised. Paying immediately earns a 50% discount and closes the case. If you would rather contest it, you have 20 calendar days to submit your objections, but to drive on you must deposit 100% of the amount. The DGT gathers information on fines on its official e-services website.

Sources:BOE, Reglamento General de Circulación (Real Decreto 1428/2003, texto consolidado), DGT, nuevos límites de velocidad en vías urbanas, DGT, Conoce las reglas de tráfico, BOE, Ley 7/2021 de cambio climático y transición energética, DGT, distintivo ambiental, DGT, consejos para extranjeros en ciudad, Ajuntament de Barcelona, vehículos con matrícula extranjera, DGT, dispositivos de preseñalización V16, DGT, instrucción sobre la V-16 en circulación internacional, La Moncloa, fin de los peajes de la AP-7 y la AP-2, Ajuntament de Barcelona, ZBE: vehículos afectados. Information checked in October 2026.