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About this tool
Spanish road rules for visitors: side of the road, 20/30/50 city limits and autovia speeds in km/h and mph, alcohol limits and IDP requirements.
This explainer sets out what a visitor needs before driving in Spain: you drive on the right in a left-hand-drive car, every sign is in km/h, and since Real Decreto 970/2020 took effect on 11 May 2021 towns run a 20 / 30 / 50 km/h ladder instead of a flat 50. It applies the Reglamento General de Circulación limits — 120 km/h on autovías and 90 km/h on conventional roads — together with the drink-driving thresholds of 0.5 g per litre of blood (0.25 mg/l of breath) for most drivers and 0.3 g/l (0.15 mg/l) for anyone whose licence is under two years old or who drives professionally.
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20 km/h on shared-platform streets, 30 km/h with one lane each way, 50 km/h only on multi-lane avenues.
Novice and professional drivers get 0.3 g/l, not 0.5 — the tool picks the right one from your licence age.
Tick the trailer box and the motorway limit drops from 120 to 90 km/h and conventional roads from 90 to 70.
It depends on the street layout, not on a single urban number. Since 11 May 2021 it is 20 km/h where the roadway and pavement sit on one shared platform, 30 km/h on streets with a single lane in each direction — which is most Spanish urban roads — and 50 km/h only where there are two or more lanes in each direction. Outside town it is 90 km/h on carreteras convencionales and 120 km/h on autovías and autopistas.
0.5 g of alcohol per litre of blood, equal to 0.25 mg per litre of breath, for most drivers. It drops to 0.3 g/l (0.15 mg/l) if you have held your licence for less than two years or you drive professionally. Between 0.25 and 0.50 mg/l of breath the penalty is €500 and 4 licence points; above 0.50 mg/l it is €1,000 and 6 points; above 0.60 mg/l article 379.2 of the Código Penal makes it a criminal offence carrying up to six months in prison and a one-to-four-year ban.
No if your licence is from an EU or EEA country — it is recognised in full and residents only register it with the DGT. Yes in practice for other countries: carry an International Driving Permit issued under the 1949 or 1968 conventions alongside your national licence, because rental desks and the Guardia Civil ask for it. Once you become resident, a non-EU licence stops being valid after six months, so you must exchange it or sit the Spanish test.
Not from 1 January 2026 — the connected V-16 beacon replaced triangles as the legal breakdown signal for Spanish-registered vehicles, and it must be DGT-approved and geolocated so it reports your position automatically. You still need a reflective vest inside the cabin, worn before you step out, and spare glasses if your licence carries a corrective-lens condition. Hire cars registered in Spain should already carry a compliant V-16.