Driving Law in Spain: DGT Fines, the Points System and Your Options (2026)
Spanish traffic law runs on one consolidated statute, one regulator and a handful of clocks. The TRLTSV classifies every infraction and prices it, the DGT processes the file, and short deadlines decide whether you pay half, fight, or watch the fine become final. This section maps the machine and links the deep pages.
Information last verified on 23 July 2026. This page provides general legal information about Spanish law and does not constitute legal advice in an individual case.
One statute, three classes, several price lists
The texto refundido de la Ley sobre Tráfico (RDL 6/2015) classifies infractions as leves, graves y muy graves and sets the money: up to 100 €, flat 200 € and flat 500 € respectively as the base rule. The exceptions matter as much as the rule: speeding is priced by its own annex table by how far over the limit you were, drug driving and refusal to test carry 1.000 € (alcohol takes that figure only for repeat offenders or above double the limit), and a small list of non-ordinary offences (radar jammers, unauthorised roadworks and similar) runs from 6.000 € up to a 3.000 € a 20.000 € band. The multas DGT page works through the amounts, the 50 percent early-payment trade, the appeal ladder and the expiry clocks.
The points system, briefly
The licence is a 12-point credit, 8 for drivers with less than three years' experience, and specific offences deduct points on top of the fine. Clean conduct rebuilds the balance (up to 15 points over the years), courses can restore part of it, and losing everything means a waiting period, a course and an exam. The points page covers deductions and recovery, and the appeal page covers challenging a sanction.
The clocks
Spanish traffic enforcement is deadline-driven in the driver's favour more often than people expect: an infraction prescribes in 3 months (leve) or 6 months (grave y muy grave) from the facts; a procedure that reaches no resolution within one year caduca; a firm fine unpaid prescribes in four years; and DGT registry annotations clear three years after compliance. None of those clocks is the criminal record: a traffic sanction is administrative, and the criminal-record system only enters when conduct crosses into the Código Penal.
Where driving turns criminal
The administrative alcohol ceilings are 0,5 g/l in blood (0,25 mg/l in air), lowered to 0,3 y 0,15 for professional transport and for the first two years of a licence (art. 20 del Reglamento General de Circulación). Above the thresholds of the Código Penal, and for reckless driving, driving without points or refusal to test, the case moves to the criminal courts, with penalties the DGT could never impose. The alcohol page and the speeding page map those boundaries, and the radar page covers the measurement margins that feed an appeal.
This page is general legal information about Spanish law and does not constitute legal advice in an individual case. The controlling texts are the current versions in the BOE and the DGT's official pages.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much are traffic fines in Spain?
The base amounts are up to 100 € for leves, 200 € for graves and 500 € for muy graves (art. 80 TRLTSV). Speeding has its own band table, drug driving and refusal to test cost 1.000 € (alcohol only for repeat offenders or above double the limit), and a short list of special offences like driving with a radar jammer reaches 6.000 € or a 3.000 € a 20.000 € band. Paying within 20 días naturales halves most of them.
How many points does a Spanish licence have?
The standard credit is 12 points, or 8 for drivers with less than three years' experience and for those who regained a licence after losing all points. Offences deduct points on top of the money fine, sustained clean driving rebuilds the balance up to 15, and losing everything triggers a waiting period, a course and an exam.
Do traffic fines expire in Spain?
Yes, on several clocks: the infraction itself prescribes in 3 months (leve) or 6 months (grave and muy grave) if not validly notified; an initiated procedure caduca if no resolution arrives within a year; and a firm unpaid fine prescribes in four years (art. 112 TRLTSV).
What is the alcohol limit for driving in Spain?
The administrative limits are 0,5 grams per litre in blood, equivalent to 0,25 milligrams per litre in exhaled air, and 0,3 y 0,15 for professional transport drivers and during the first two years of the licence. Higher levels can constitute a crime under the Código Penal rather than a DGT fine.