Speed cameras in Spain photograph the number plate, not the driver. For a car registered in another country, the Spanish authority — usually the DGT, sometimes a town hall or the traffic authority of Catalonia or the Basque Country — finds the keeper through that country's vehicle register and posts the fine (notificación de denuncia) to the keeper's home. Within the EU this exchange of vehicle data has run for years; with the UK, an agreement signed in 2023 covers speeding and seven other offences. For a hire car, see a fine for a rental car.
Is it real?
- A real fine comes by post (or, for those who signed up, to the DGT's electronic address) with a file number (expediente), the place, date and time, and the measured and permitted speed.
- The DGT does not ask for payment by SMS or e-mail. Messages with a link to "pay your fine" are a common scam.
- Check and pay only on the DGT's own website (sede.dgt.gob.es, section Multas), its miDGT app or by phone on 060 — never through a link in a message.
The 20 days
You have 20 calendar days from the day after you receive the letter. Paying within them takes 50% off and closes the case — you give up any objection. Within the same 20 days you can instead object (alegaciones) or, if someone else was driving, name the driver. The rules are the same for foreign drivers. Enter the day you received the letter on this page and the site counts the last day.
What if you ignore it?
Without a payment or an objection the fine becomes final at the full amount and goes to enforcement with a surcharge — in Spain. Today Spain has no practical way to collect an administrative traffic fine through the courts of another EU country or the UK; an EU directive of 2024 that adds help with unpaid fines between EU countries has to be in force by July 2027. But the debt stays on file in Spain, and money, a tax refund or property you have there can be seized for it.
A lawyer for speeding fines can check the photo and whether the notice was valid, and object for you in Spanish within the 20 days.
Prepared by Legal Help Tool. Last updated . General information, not legal advice.
