Drink-Driving Limits & Drinking Laws in Spain

The drink-driving limits in Spain

Spain sets the blood-alcohol limit by both blood concentration and breath concentration. The police test breath at the roadside; the breath figure is the one that matters in practice.

• General drivers: 0.5 g/L of alcohol in blood, equal to 0.25 mg/L in breath.
• New drivers (in the first two years of holding a licence) and all professional drivers (lorries, buses, taxis, vehicles over 3,500 kg, vehicles for hire): 0.3 g/L blood, equal to 0.15 mg/L breath.

There is no reliable way to convert these limits into “number of drinks” — it depends on your weight, sex, what you have eaten and how fast you drank. The only safe approach in Spain is not to drink at all if you are driving.

How Spain compares with the UK and Ireland

This catches a lot of British expats out. The limit you were used to at home is probably higher than Spain’s:

• England, Wales & Northern Ireland: 0.8 g/L blood (0.35 mg/L breath) — noticeably more permissive than Spain.
• Scotland: 0.5 g/L — the same as Spain’s general limit.
• Republic of Ireland: 0.5 g/L general, 0.2 g/L for novice and professional drivers — close to Spain.

In short: if you drive in Spain the way the English limit allowed, you risk being well over the Spanish limit.

Penalties for drink-driving in Spain

Penalties scale with the reading, and the most serious cases are dealt with as crimes, not traffic fines:

• 0.25–0.50 mg/L breath: €500 fine and 4 points off your licence.
• Above 0.50 mg/L breath: €1,000 fine and 6 points.
• Above 0.60 mg/L breath (or 1.2 g/L blood): a criminal offence under the Penal Code — prison of 3–6 months, or a fine, or community service, plus a driving ban of 1–4 years.
• Refusing the test: a criminal offence in its own right, punished more harshly than most positive readings.

What it means for your car insurance

This is the part many drivers do not realise. Driving over the legal alcohol limit is a breach of your policy conditions, and it changes everything about how a claim is handled:

• The insurer still pays the victim. Spanish law requires your compulsory third-party cover (RC Obligatoria) to pay anyone you injure — that protection cannot be removed.
• But the insurer can reclaim it from you. Through the derecho de repetición, the company pays the third party and then pursues you for the amount it paid out, which in a serious injury case can be a substantial sum.
• Your own damage is generally not covered. Even on a fully comprehensive (todo riesgo) policy, damage to your own car is typically excluded when you were over the limit.
• Renewal and premiums. A conviction can lead the insurer to decline renewal, and it will push up the price of cover elsewhere.

In other words, the €1,000 fine may be the smallest part of the cost — the insurance consequences can be far more significant.

Roadside checks are routine

The Guardia Civil and Policía Local run alcohol and drug checkpoints regularly — particularly at weekends, around fiestas, and late at night — and they do not need a reason to stop you. Tests are also mandatory after any accident with injuries. There is no “morning after” exemption: alcohol from the night before can still put you over the limit at breakfast.

Drinking Laws in Spain: Legal Age, Public Drinking & the Rules

Drink-driving is only one part of Spain’s alcohol rules. Expats and visitors are most often caught out by the wider drinking laws in Spain — especially the legal drinking age and the surprising rules on drinking in public.

The legal drinking age in Spain

The legal drinking age in Spain is 18 across the whole country. It is illegal to sell or serve alcohol to anyone under 18, and bars, shops and supermarkets routinely ask for photo ID (your DNI, NIE card or passport). The age is now standardised at 18 nationwide — a couple of regions briefly allowed 16 in the past, but that is no longer the case anywhere in Spain.

Drinking in public — the “botellón” ban

This is the rule that surprises most newcomers: drinking alcohol in the street and other public spaces is banned in most of Spain. The national ley antibotellón and local by-laws prohibit the botellón — drinking in groups in streets, squares, parks and on beaches — with on-the-spot fines typically €300–€600, and higher for repeat offences. You can, of course, drink legally at a bar, a restaurant, a licensed terrace, in a private home, or at an officially authorised street party (a verbena or fiesta).

Drinking on the beach

Many coastal towns — including much of the Costa Blanca and Costa del Sol — specifically ban drinking on the beach and the promenade, and ban glass bottles on the sand, with fines enforced by local police most actively in summer. Always check the signage at the beach entrance, because the rules vary from town to town.

Buying alcohol

Alcohol is sold in supermarkets, shops and petrol stations, but some regions restrict shop sales late at night (commonly no off-licence sales between roughly 22:00 and 09:00). Bars and restaurants serve under their own licences. Buying alcohol on behalf of anyone under 18 is itself an offence.

Stay covered, drive safe

As authorised Generali agents in Jávea, we arrange car, motorbike and van insurance for expats across Spain, with English-speaking support and clear explanations of exactly what your policy does and does not cover. Contact us or call 966 461 625 for a free quote.

Frequently asked questions

Sources & references

• Dirección General de Tráfico (DGT) — official road-safety and alcohol-limit information.
• Código Penal (BOE) — articles 379–383 on driving offences.

This guide is general information, not legal or personalised advice. Alcohol limits, penalties and insurance terms can change. For advice on your cover, contact Turner Insurance.