Spain is a magnet that attracts people of all nationalities, especially those from the northern climes who suffer from a lack of sun and warmth. Consequently there are people living here who speak all sorts of languages, far too many for the government to be expected to translate it laws and rules into.
Previously if you needed to obtain a driving license you had to study for it in Spanish. Then came a major step forward that translated the tests into English, and Arabic and one or two others.
This still left a number of drivers cruising around without really knowing what they were doing. We get traffic tickets and we have to go and find someone who can tell us what we did wrong. The fact is that Spain's economy has been greatly helped by its expatriate population, so to take steps to assist us foreigners in integrating is greatly apprecieted, but also very smart.
The latest move is by visiting the website, www.dgt.es/es/ we can find information in English regarding what to do if you receive a traffic ticket; how to appeal a ticket, and (presumably after you lose your appeal) how to pay the ticket, and when.
You are also told how to identify an offending driver, if that driver is not the owner.
This is an important point. A driver caused me to break my leg, then drove off. I did get the number, but on the day we ended up in court the owner, a short man, came to court and said he had never seen me before, but the driver of the car was a tall man. The owner had to confess that he did allow this man to drive the car, so on the basis of that and my identification I won my case.
Driving in Spain gets to be more complex every day, so especially if you are a foreigner you need all the help you can get.
Copyright (c) 2015 Eugene Carmichael
