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Spain collected more than €500 million in traffic fines in 2022

The Local Spain
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Spain collected more than €500 million in traffic fines in 2022
Vehicles cross a toolgate of the A7 motorway in La Roca del Valles in 2019. Photo: LLUIS GENE/AFP.

Spain's Directorate of Traffic (DGT) collected over €500 million in fines in 2022, the most ever. Here are the regions that dished out the most and what they were for.

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Fines handed out by the Spanish Dirección General de Tráfico (DGT) added up to a whopping €507 million in 2022, the highest figure ever recorded.

In total, drivers breaking the rules on Spanish roads paid €507,361,888 to the public coffers, according to a study on the 'Radiography of Traffic Fines in Spain 2022' released by the Associated European Motorists (AEA).

Last year saw a total of 5,542,178 traffic infractions and violations processed by the DGT, an increase of 15.6 percent over the 2021 figures.

The study also reveals the most common traffic violations and the regions of Spain that dish out the most fines.

READ ALSO: How you can now pay traffic fines in Spain from your phone

Speeding

The AEA study reports that speeding continues to be the most common sanction imposed by DGT, with 3,704,675 total speeding violations in 2022, which makes up roughly two thirds of the total number.

That is followed by fines for not having passed the ITV road-worthiness test, which is equivalent to the MOT in the UK (618,375), which increased by 4.6 percent year on year.

READ ALSO - ITV: How to pass Spain's roadworthiness test (and the changes for 2023)

There were 137,475 fines for driving without a license, an increase of 8.4 percent, as well as 105,996 for not wearing a seat belt, a slight increase of 0.16 percent. This was followed by 88,201 fines for driving while using a mobile fine, a fall of 13.05 percent on the 2021 figures.

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Drink and drugs

Interestingly, the study also reported a fall in drug driving offences by almost half (48.38 percent) with 26,126 sanctions compared to 50,613 in 2021, as well as a 3.0 percent decrease in fines for reckless driving.

However, this drop in drug driving offences was counterbalanced by what the AEA called a "worrying" increase in fines given for drink driving offences, which increased by a staggering 51.8 percent, going from 56,073 in 2021 to 85,130 in 2022.

READ ALSO: What are the drink driving limits and penalties in Spain?

Regional breakdown

The study also presented some rather interesting regional data.

By regions, the number of total traffic fines increased in Andalusia by 42.8 percent; Extremadura (32.3 percent); Cantabria (26.3 percent); La Rioja (24.7 percent) and Madrid (21.2 percent).

In the Balearic Islands traffic fines increased by 18.1 percent; Valencian (18 percent); Ceuta and Melilla (13.2. percent), Castilla-La Mancha (9.2 percent); Galicia (1.3 percent) and the Canary Islands (0.9 percent).

READ ALSO: Driving in Spain: What changes in 2023?

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They fell in Navarre (-8 percent), Castilla y León (-2.9 percent); Murcia (-2.1 percent); Aragón (-1.5 percent) and Asturias (-0.4 percent).

Andalusia saw the most fines in 2022, with1,402,101, though it was Madrid that had the highest concentration of sanctions, with 158 per kilometre of road in the region. Castilla y León had the fewest fines per kilometre, with just 17 per km.

Castilla y León also had the lowest number of fines per car, with 0.30 offences per vehicle, followed by Cantabria (0.28) and La Rioja (0.27).

Overall, Ceuta and Melilla had the fewest offences both in absolute terms (8,184 total complaints between the two autonomous cities), and by fines per vehicle (0.06 per vehicle).

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