Driving rules in Spain

The Spanish driving rules that catch visitors out

Anyone getting into a hire car in Spain drives under rules that differ sharply from those at home on a few points — and those are exactly the points that are enforced. Thirty kilometres an hour is the norm in town rather than the exception, the warning triangle has been worthless since the start of this year, and holding your phone is not allowed even when you are stationary at a red light. Below is what applies, with the fines, and what changes on 1 October 2026.

Speed limits

Two things here surprise almost every visitor. In town it is 30, not 50: every street with one lane in each direction falls under it, and in Spanish village centres that is nearly every street. The rule has applied since May 2021 and is enforced by fixed cameras. And the old rule that you could do 100 on an open road with a hard shoulder has not existed since January 2019; it is 90 everywhere. If you read otherwise, you are reading out-of-date information.

Alcohol

The limit is 0.5 grams per litre of blood, or 0.25 milligrams per litre of exhaled air. For anyone who has held a licence for less than two years, and for professional drivers, it is 0.3 grams per litre. Exceeding it costs between five hundred and a thousand euros and four or six penalty points; from 0.60 milligrams per litre of exhaled air it is no longer a fine but a criminal offence.

You sometimes read that Spain is moving to 0.2. That is not happening: the bill was rejected in Congress in March 2026. The 0.5 remains.

For a hire car this weighs double: driving under the influence counts as gross negligence, and then damage is not reimbursed, not even with all-inclusive cover.

What must be in the car

This is where most has changed this year, and it affects hire cars directly.

• A V-16 conectada. Since 1 January 2026 that orange roof beacon is the only legal way to mark a stationary vehicle. It has its own SIM card and reports your location to the traffic authority when used; you need no phone and no subscription, as at least twelve years of connectivity is included in the price of the device. One per car. If it is missing: eighty euros.
• Warning triangles have been withdrawn for Spanish-registered cars. If you arrive in your own foreign-registered car, you may in fact go on using them — the exact opposite of what people expect.
• One CE-marked high-visibility vest, in the cabin and not in the boot. You put it on before you get out, by day and by night. Not wearing it costs two hundred euros and four penalty points — heavier, then, than missing the beacon. One vest is what Spanish law requires; one per occupant is good advice, not an obligation.
• A spare wheel or a repair kit with tools.
• Not required in a passenger car: spare bulbs, a fire extinguisher and a first-aid kit. Recommended, but not compulsory.

Because a hire car has Spanish plates and the driver is responsible for what is in the car: check at pick-up whether the beacon and the vest are there, and have it noted if they are not. Whether a hire company supplies the beacon as standard, and who pays if it is missing, is not regulated anywhere.

Phone, earphones and speed-camera apps

• Phone in the hand: two hundred euros and six penalty points. Also when you are stationary in a queue or at a red light. Only when you are properly parked in a bay is it allowed.
• Earphones or headphones with sound on: two hundred euros.
• Having a radar detector in the car: two hundred euros and three penalty points. A jammer is far heavier: up to six thousand euros and six points.
• An app that warns about speed cameras is allowed. Warning is permitted, detecting and jamming are not. The traffic authority publishes the fixed cameras itself, and navigation systems may show them.

Children in the car

Spain goes by height: a child seat is required up to 135 centimetres and the child belongs in the back. The fine is two hundred euros and four points. The details, the standards and the question of whether to hire or bring your own are at the child seat in a hire car.

Parking: read the colour of the line

A blue zone works with a ticket from the machine or an app, and the proof behind the windscreen. Times and tariffs differ per municipality — “Sundays are free” is not a national rule. Two examples from around here: in Alicante the basic zone applies on weekdays from 9 to 14 and from 16 to 20, and on Saturday from 9 to 14, usually with a two-hour maximum; overstay and you can, within ninety minutes, buy a separate 3.50 euro ticket from the machine to settle the fine. In Benidorm it is 9 to 14 and 16 to 20 in winter, until 21 in summer, and Sundays and public holidays are free.

Watch one pitfall: outside built-up areas, blue and green lines mean something entirely different. A green line along the hard shoulder marks a stretch with extra speed enforcement, and a thin blue line marks a fibre-optic cable. Neither has anything to do with parking.

Low-emission zones apply to hire cars too

Alicante has had a low-emission zone since January 2025, with three rings. In the inner ring, the old town, only cars with an environmental label B, C, ECO or 0 may enter freely, with exemptions for hotel guests and those driving into a car park, among others. The fine is two hundred euros. Which zones exist and what applies differs per municipality, so check it for the city you want to drive into.

Fines, and a ruling that may save you money

Pay within twenty days and you get a fifty per cent discount, including on the spot. But note: by paying you close the procedure and waive your right to appeal. A foreign driver receives the fine by post at their home address, through the exchange of data between European traffic authorities. If you do not pay, twenty per cent is added, and under the European rules on cross-border enforcement an unpaid Spanish fine can be pursued in your own country.

And then the part that matters with a hire car. In practice, hire companies charge an administration fee for passing your details to the police. On 19 August 2026 the Spanish consumer affairs ministry fined Avis one million euros for exactly that: the company charged between 33.88 and 45 euros for the act, and according to the ministry that is not permitted, because identifying the driver is a legal duty of the registered keeper for which no separate fee may be asked. If you see such an item on your final invoice, you now know the last word has not been said about it. What hire companies put in their own terms about it varies and sits in a separate tariff list.

Roundabouts

The rule is that you drive in the outside lane and leave from there; the inner lanes are for overtaking. In practice Spanish drivers often do otherwise, which makes the roundabout unpredictable. So look twice before you leave one.

New from 1 October 2026

A new Spanish traffic code applies from 1 October 2026. What a driver notices of it:

• When overtaking a cyclist on an open road: at least one and a half metres of lateral clearance and at least 20 km/h below the applicable limit. On a road with more lanes you must change lane completely.
• The same clearance rule applies when passing stationary vehicles.
• In a traffic jam you must leave room for emergency services.
• Exemptions from the seat-belt requirement disappear; taxi drivers too must always wear one.

That cyclist rule is no theory on this coast: the roads around Moraira, Benissa and Calpe carry a lot of road cyclists, often in groups.

See hire cars at Alicante Airport

More on car hire on the Costa Blanca

Whether you pay toll and which exit to take is at tolls on the Costa Blanca. The full overview is at car hire on the Costa Blanca.

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