In Spain you drive on the right, with the steering wheel on the left, and roundabouts go anticlockwise. At junctions without signs or road markings, traffic from your right goes first, even from a small side street.
Watch for fixed, mobile, average speed and red light cameras, and for unmarked camera cars. Earphones and headphones are banned while driving.
The most important first.
At a junction with no signs, signals or road markings, give way to traffic coming from your right, even from a small side street. At a junction with no signs, signals or markings, give way to vehicles coming from your right.
Since 1 January 2026 a Spanish-registered car, including a hire car, must carry a certified connected V-16 beacon. Triangles no longer count for Spanish cars. After a breakdown or crash, switch on the hazard lights, switch on the beacon and put it on the roof from inside the car. Then, if there is a safe place off the road, put on the hi-vis vest and get out on the side away from traffic. If not, stay inside with seatbelts fastened.
Town streets with one lane in each direction have a 30 km/h limit even without a sign. Streets with two or more lanes each way, and main roads passing through a town (travesías), default to 50 km/h.
Police ask drivers who cannot show legal residence in Spain to pay a fine on the spot, by card or cash. If you don't, the car is immobilised. Paying within 20 days, including on the spot, halves the fine.
Headphones, earphones and earpieces are banned while driving, even for calls. Hands-free calls must use a system that needs neither your hands nor anything in your ears.
Leave at least 1.5 metres when passing a cyclist. Since 1 October 2026, outside towns you must also slow to at least 20 km/h below the limit, and move fully into the next lane where there is more than one lane in your direction.
Since 2022 you may not exceed the 90 km/h limit on conventional roads to overtake.
Many cities restrict access by the car's DGT environmental label, and cameras read number plates. In central Madrid, a car with a C label, which recent petrol and diesel cars have unless they are hybrids, may enter only to park in a public car park. Each improper trip costs €200. Check each city's rules before you drive in.
Carrying a radar detector is an offence, and a jammer is a very serious one. Apps and sat navs that warn of camera locations are legal.
Since 1 October 2026, when traffic on an autopista or autovía slows to walking pace or stops, you must pull over to open a lane for emergency vehicles. With two lanes, the gap goes between them. With three or more, the left lane moves left and the others move right.
When passing a vehicle stopped on the road after a breakdown or crash, or a road crew, leave at least 1.5 metres and slow to at least 20 km/h below the limit.
Traffic on the roundabout has priority. The inner lanes are for going round. Move to the outer lane before your exit and signal, rather than cutting across from an inner lane.
The sign with the town's name on it sets the town limit by itself, usually with no speed sign.
On motorways, overtaking on the right is banned. Keep to the right-hand lane unless you're overtaking. Outside towns, on roads with more than one lane in your direction, keep to the right-hand lane. Use the others only when traffic makes it sensible, such as to overtake, and never hold up faster vehicles behind you.
Most zones decide access by the car's DGT environmental label: 0 (blue), ECO, C (green) or B (yellow). Cars with no label are the most restricted. Each city sets its own rules, and some let restricted cars in only to park in a public or private car park. Where: Every town of more than 50,000 people must set one up. The DGT lists Madrid, Barcelona, San Sebastián, Valencia, Seville, Zaragoza, Bilbao and Málaga among the main ones. A Spanish hire car is already classed by its DGT label, shown on the sticker in the bottom right corner of the windscreen. Foreign-registered cars cannot get a Spanish label but can use the equivalent label from their home country, and some cities such as Barcelona ask them to register in advance.
Cars with a 0, ECO, C or B label can drive in freely. Cars with no label are banned unless registered in Madrid and paying the city's vehicle tax, or exempt. Where: The whole municipality of Madrid, 24 hours a day. The M-40, M-45 and M-50 ring roads are outside the zone. Fine: €200. Petrol cars registered since 2001 and diesel cars since 2006 have at least a B label, so only older cars are affected.
Only cars with a 0 or ECO label may drive in freely. Cars with a C or B label may enter only to park in a public car park or under another exception, and cars with no label are banned. Where: Central Madrid, the former Madrid Central area. Fine: €200 for each improper trip. A petrol car registered since 2006, or a diesel since September 2015, has a C label unless it is a hybrid, which gets ECO. With a C label, drive in only to a public car park, or leave the car outside the centre. Cameras read number plates and the fine arrives by post.
The vast majority of Spain's roads are free to use. The toll motorways (autopistas de peaje) that remain charge at booths, which take cash or bank cards. On most toll motorways you take a ticket when you join and pay when you leave. Some sections charge one fixed toll. State toll motorways still charging in 2026 include the AP-6, AP-9, AP-46, AP-51, AP-53, AP-61, AP-66, AP-68 and AP-71, the AP-7 between Málaga and Guadiaro, between Alicante and Cartagena and between Cartagena and Vera, the AP-36 (Ocaña to La Roda), the AP-41 (Madrid to Toledo), the M-12 and the R-2, R-3, R-4 and R-5.
On a two-way street you may park only on the right-hand side in your direction of travel, so never facing oncoming traffic. Only on one-way streets may you also park on the left.
The blood alcohol limit is 0.05, and 0.03 for licence held for less than 2 years. The breath limits are 0.25 mg/l, or 0.15 mg/l for novice and professional drivers.
Where no sign says otherwise, in kilometres per hour.
The app animates all 7 junctions for Spain, including the ones above.
Open it in the appA speed camera checks this point or section of an ordinary road.
A speed camera checks this point or section of an autopista or autovía.
A camera checks that vehicles stop at the red light ahead.
Vehicles are banned from entering according to their DGT environmental label or other environmental criteria.
You are entering a town. Urban rules and urban speed limits apply from here.
Give way to vehicles on the road or lane you are joining.
Stop at the stop line, or just before the junction if there is no line, then give way.
At the junction ahead the general rule applies: vehicles coming from your right go first.
Maximum speed in km/h until a sign ends it. When it is mounted with a danger warning, it ends with the danger. On a minor road, it ends where you turn onto a road with priority.
Pedestrians have priority and may use the whole street. The speed limit is 10 km/h, and you may park only where signs or markings allow.
Speed may be checked from a helicopter or drone on this stretch. If the checks target one type of vehicle, only that vehicle may be shown.
No stopping or parking on the side of the road where the sign stands, from the sign to the next junction unless shown otherwise.
Fixed and average speed cameras are announced by signs, and the DGT publishes their locations. Mobile radars, unmarked cars, helicopters and drones also check speed. In Catalonia, the Basque Country and Navarre, regional police patrol the roads instead of the Guardia Civil.
Radar fijo
Looks like: Cameras in roadside cabins, on poles or on overhead gantries.
Catches: Speeding.
About 90 per cent use Doppler radar and about 10 per cent use laser. At the end of 2024 there were 763 fixed and section camera points on interurban roads, not counting Catalonia and the Basque Country, and the DGT keeps adding more.
Radar de tramo
Looks like: Two camera points several kilometres apart that read number plates.
Catches: Average speed between the two points.
Sections average about 2 km. The longest is 23 km, on the CL-615 in Palencia.
Radar móvil
Looks like: Radar units on tripods beside the road, or operated from Guardia Civil patrol cars.
Catches: Speeding.
Officers may stop you a short distance after the radar to check documents and issue the fine.
Every camera type in Spain, the warning signs and how fines reach you
| Licence from | Permit | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| the EU, Iceland | Not needed | Licences issued in the EU and the EEA (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) are valid in Spain while they are in force. |
| United Kingdom | Not needed | The UK government says a UK photocard licence can be used to drive in Spain. Provisional licences are not valid, and holders of old paper licences may need to update to a photocard. |
| United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan | Required | The DGT says drivers with a licence from outside the EU and EEA need an International Driving Permit, carried with the licence and a passport or ID card. The US State Department says you need one to hire a car, and police who find you without one can impound the car and fine you on the spot. |
Most zones decide access by the car's DGT environmental label: 0 (blue), ECO, C (green) or B (yellow). Cars with no label are the most restricted. Each city sets its own rules, and some let restricted cars in only to park in a public or private car park. Where: Every town of more than 50,000 people must set one up. The DGT lists Madrid, Barcelona, San Sebastián, Valencia, Seville, Zaragoza, Bilbao and Málaga among the main ones.
Tip: A Spanish hire car is already classed by its DGT label, shown on the sticker in the bottom right corner of the windscreen. Foreign-registered cars cannot get a Spanish label but can use the equivalent label from their home country, and some cities such as Barcelona ask them to register in advance.
Cars with a 0, ECO, C or B label can drive in freely. Cars with no label are banned unless registered in Madrid and paying the city's vehicle tax, or exempt. Where: The whole municipality of Madrid, 24 hours a day. The M-40, M-45 and M-50 ring roads are outside the zone. Fine: €200.
Tip: Petrol cars registered since 2001 and diesel cars since 2006 have at least a B label, so only older cars are affected.
Only cars with a 0 or ECO label may drive in freely. Cars with a C or B label may enter only to park in a public car park or under another exception, and cars with no label are banned. Where: Central Madrid, the former Madrid Central area. Fine: €200 for each improper trip.
Tip: A petrol car registered since 2006, or a diesel since September 2015, has a C label unless it is a hybrid, which gets ECO. With a C label, drive in only to a public car park, or leave the car outside the centre. Cameras read number plates and the fine arrives by post.
The vast majority of Spain's roads are free to use. The toll motorways (autopistas de peaje) that remain charge at booths, which take cash or bank cards.
The whole city is a low emission zone, open to any car with a DGT label. Cars with no label are banned unless they are registered in Madrid.
Distrito Centro, the old centre, is open freely only to cars with a 0 or ECO label. A recent petrol or diesel car that is not a hybrid has a C label. With a C or B label, you may drive in only to park in a public car park. Cameras read number plates, and each improper trip costs €200.
The radial motorways R-2, R-3, R-4 and R-5 and the M-12 charge tolls.
Barcelona's low emission zone, the ZBE Rondes de Barcelona, resumed normal operation on 16 March 2026 after a suspension.
Access depends on the DGT environmental label. Foreign-registered cars must be registered in advance, which is done on the zone's official website.
Yes. Since 1 January 2026 every Spanish-registered car must carry a certified connected V-16 beacon, and warning triangles no longer count. Check it is in the glovebox before you leave the depot.
Not with an EU, EEA or UK photocard licence. With a licence from elsewhere, such as the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand or Japan, the DGT says you need one.
120 km/h on autopistas and autovías, unless signs show a lower limit.
No. A red light means stop. You may turn only on a green arrow or a flashing amber light, giving way to pedestrians.
0.5 grams per litre of blood (0.25 mg/l of breath), or 0.3 g/l (0.15 mg/l) if you have held your licence for less than two years. A proposed cut to 0.2 g/l has not become law.
Fixed and average speed cameras are announced by signs, and the DGT publishes their locations. Mobile radars and unmarked cars are not announced, and checks from helicopters and drones only sometimes are.
With a 0 or ECO label, yes. With a C or B label, only to park in a public car park. A recent petrol or diesel car that is not a hybrid has a C label. Cameras read number plates, and each improper trip costs €200.
If police stop you and you do not live in Spain, you must pay on the spot by card or cash, or the car is immobilised. Camera fines reach you through the hire company. Paying on the spot or within 20 calendar days halves the fine.
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Checked 15 October 2026. Official sources first.