Driving in Spain

Driving in Spain can sometimes be a challenge, although the roads are quieter in Almería you still need your wits about you when venturing out on to the carreteras. There is quite a difference between northern Europe and Spanish driving standards. I am in no doubt that road safety in Spain is important to the Spanish government and its relevant government department (DGT) that deals with things all things cars and driving licences. However, what you actually see on the Spanish roads on some occasions is quite shocking and outright dangerous. Here a few of the things that you will encounter on the Spanish roads.

Indicators

Seeing orange flashing lights on vehicles whilst they turn or manoeuvre is something that is hit and miss in Spain. This is despite the DGT rules and Spanish law stating the use of them are mandatory and you run the risk of being fines for not using them where appropriate. This is not to say you won’t see them being used just don’t be surprised when you see large numbers of vehicles not using them.

Roundabouts

Well where do I start. Even I get confused with the rules. For years the DGT have said you use roundabout in a certain way, but now apparently, they state they now need it to be used in the same way as you would in most of world.

Originally the DGT stated that you should treat a roundabout in the same way as a one-way street, indicating only right when you are about to exit the roundabout. When approaching the roundabout, if there is more than one lane on the approach you should enter it from the righthand lane only, whilst on the roundabout keep to the outside lane regardless of whether you need to exit on the first or the very last exit.  Regardless if you have to go almost all the way around it.  The inside lane is for overtaking on the one-way street roundabout, yes you read that correctly, overtaking was considered normal on a roandabout in Spain. The DGT previously provided diagrams to show you how to navigate and behave on a roundabout. I used to find over complicated.

Now apparently, not that I can find any evidence of it on the DGT website you are now required to navigate a roundabout in the same way the rest of the world pretty much does. Despite this I have read that driving instructors are STILL instructing their students using the old method.

Its going to be a long time before roundabout etiquette makes any sense or you feel safe using them in Spain. If the DGT have indeed changed the rules on roundabout etiquette it would have been great if they had a publicity campaign, just like the Swedish H-Day when Sweden switched from driving on the left to the right.

Letting someone out at a junction

When it comes to meeting another vehicle at a junction in the UK there seems to be an unwritten code that people let other road users out of a junction if it makes manoeuvring easier. Spanish people do not 'let people out’ even if it is easier in the long run for them. In Spain if you try and be polite in doing this it likely that you will be at junction for a very long time. The other person will not understand what you are offering to them.

Thanking other road users

That leads me on to giving a wave of the hand to thank another road user for maybe pulling over on a narrow road so its easier and safer for all concerned. Generally, Spanish drivers will just charge through a narrow road regardless for what’s coming in the opposite direction. I generally pull in and stop. When doing this don’t expect a Spanish driver to wave their hand in order to thank you, you’ll be waiting a long time. On the other hand just as happened to me this morning even some of the English road users have also adopted this stance. The scenario this morning was that I was on a narrow road near home, I could see a neighbour approaching, I pulled in close to a wall, my English neighbour passed in their car, no acknowledgement, no thank you.

Using your horn

You never really hear horns being used in Spain, or at least in this part of the country. It's mainly due to the situations in which they can be used. Generally, a horn can only be used to warn another road user of your presence and not used in anger ie road rage. THis is the same as the UK, but unlike the UK you can go months without hearing the sound of a car horn.

Despite the chaos and dangerous habits of Spanish roads, the Spanish people generally do not get road rage and therefore don’t hit the horn. Not really sure why the Spanish don’t get angry with other road users, maybe it’s a case of pot-kettle-black or mañana, mañana. Whatever the reason I just feel its nice and correct.

Tailgating

You’ll get this happen to you on any road on Spain. In the UK its seen as an act of aggression. What I have found in Spain its just the way some people drive. You get tailgaters anywhere in any country, but in Spain its particularly abundant. My advice to anyone if this happens to you, don’t feel intimidated to drive faster or pull over any earlier than you are due to.

Parking

Parking standards in any country can be contentious but in Spain its boarders on comical to down right dangerous. In supermarket carparks you will see cars at all angles in or not in a space. The most irritating and dangerous is the habit of parking over zebra crossings, junctions, on the side of a roundabout or double parking. All or which you will see in Spanish towns. I once was a victim of double parking, a school of motoring in my area do it very often on practical examination day! When I asked a school of motoring car to move in order I could move my correctly parked car out of its space I was met by the authority of the Driving Examiner who tried to assert their authority over me by telling me I was ‘wrong’ about the rules on double parking. Not long after, in the very same area of town people started getting fines for double, nothing to do with me, just guess it got out of hand and as its illegal it’s a bit of a money maker for the Policía Local.

Cutting out turns in the road

Picture this!  You are driving on a road then all of a sudden an on-coming car is on your side of the road. Its frightening and all because the other road user couldn’t be bothered to take the turn in the road correctly. Its happened to me!

Overtaking

In the UK we have relatively good and straight roads, ones where you can overtake other vehicles if the road markings allow and its safe to do so. Spain’s roads can be quite twisty in some areas hence they have a solid white line down the middle to indicate overtaking or crossing the line is not allowed.

Sometimes the line is broken to indicate you can overtake in some of the most dangerous places such as an approach to a turn in the road or brow of an hill. Other times when there is a solid line other road users do cross it to overtake in the most dangerous of situations. In all the years I have lived in Spain I can count on one hand when I have felt it safe and appropriate to overtake another vehicle on a two-lane road. Generally, I only find duel carriageway, autovias and autopistas safe to overtake.

MOTs / ITVs

If you are British and take your own car for an ITV be prepared for it to fail. Unbelievably this has happened to me. I had a pre ITV check, all good, nothing needing doing, took it for an ITV myself and to my astonishment it failed. Quite annoyed with my garage that did the pre-ITV as though they didn’t do their job, but they went through each and every so called failure identified by the ITV station with me and it was clear that the ITV centre was meeting their quotas for failures the day I went. When I have previously taken my other car I was treated differently, my car is not old and is in very good serviced condition took an age to get through an ITV, the tester was testing absolutely everything in such detail. Yet while my car was being tested in Lane 2 in the time it took for me to pass through, four Spanish people and their old cars had flashed through Lane 1.

Medicals for Driving Licence

Regardless of your age a prerequisite for a Spanish Driving Licence is passing a medical examination at a authorised centre. Basically, as long as you can see the wall in front of you and you have a pulse you will pass. Part of the examination is testing you reaction times on a specially made 1980’s computer with these strange handles to use to control the line on the screen and react to the lines on the side of the screens, they are trying to mimic a road and test your reaction time.  I kept on hitting the sides and was amazed I passed.  Apparently it do not matter if you hit the sides all that matteris is how quick you reacted to it.

Toy cars

For those that can no longer drive a car or only have a moped licence there is a lovely type of car you can drive. You hear it coming from a kilometre away. Basically it is a 2 two seater car with four wheels with a strimmer engine and a top speed of 45kph. Think Robin Relient and you get the idea.

Despite all of these Spanish-isms of using the roads here in Spain, for me it is probably less stressful driving here than in the UK, mainly down to the fact that there is a lot less traffic on the road.