If you own or drive a car in Spain and spend long spells elsewhere, a traffic fine is one of the easiest pieces of post to miss, and one of the most expensive to ignore. The deadlines are short, they keep running whether or not you are home, and the cheapest way to settle a fine only lasts a few weeks.
This guide explains how the DGT (Dirección General de Tráfico, Spain’s traffic authority) delivers fines, what happens when nobody is at your address to receive them, and the practical steps that keep you in the loop wherever you are.
How the DGT Sends Traffic Fines
According to the DGT’s own guidance on fines, it notifies them through only two channels:
- Post, sent to the address held on its records. This is the default.
- The Dirección Electrónica Vial (DEV), an electronic mailbox you can sign up for.
The DGT is clear that it never notifies fines by email. If you receive an email telling you to pay a traffic fine, treat it as a scam and check your situation through the official channels instead.
It is also worth knowing that not every traffic fine comes from the DGT. Local councils (ayuntamientos) and some regional governments issue their own, for things such as parking. The DGT advises dealing directly with whichever body issued the fine, so always check the letterhead before you pay or reply.
What Happens If You Are Not There to Receive It
This is where people living part of the year abroad get caught out. If the DGT cannot deliver a fine to your address, because you are away or have moved, it does not simply give up. The fine is published in the Tablón Edictal Único, the official noticeboard run by the BOE (Spain’s official state gazette).
The DGT’s page on sanctions published on the noticeboard states that a fine published there is treated as notified 20 days after publication. From that point the clock is running, even if you never saw a letter.
That matters because of how the deadlines work:
- 20 calendar days to pay with a 50% reduction. Paying in this window halves the fine, but you give up the right to contest it. A few serious offences are excluded from the discount.
- 20 calendar days to submit allegations (alegaciones) if you think the fine is wrong. Contesting it means losing the discount.
- 45 days from notification to pay the full amount if you miss the first window.
- After that, the debt passes to the Spanish Tax Agency, which collects it with a 20% surcharge.
All of these figures come from the DGT’s fines page. In practice, someone who is away for two or three months can come back to find the discount gone, the chance to appeal gone, and a surcharge on the way.
Don’t Forget the Driver Identification Deadline
If the fine is for a car registered in your name but someone else was driving, or if the offence carries penalty points, you have to tell the DGT who the driver was. The DGT gives 10 days from notification to do this, and failing to identify the driver when required is treated as a very serious offence, with a fine of double or triple the original amount.
This is a real risk for second-home owners who lend the car to family or friends while they are away. If a fine arrives while you are abroad and you only find it weeks later, the identification deadline will almost certainly have passed. The DGT lets you register a usual driver (conductor habitual) for a vehicle, so that notifications go to that person first, which is worth considering if someone else regularly uses your car.
Option 1: Sign Up for the Dirección Electrónica Vial
For most people who travel a lot, the DEV is the single most useful step. It is free, voluntary for individuals (it is compulsory for companies), and once you sign up the DGT sends its fines to your electronic mailbox rather than by post. You get an email and SMS alert each time something new arrives, so you can read it from anywhere.
There is a catch you need to understand before you sign up. According to the DGT’s DEV page, you have 10 calendar days to open a notification once it lands in your mailbox. If you do not open it in that time, it counts as rejected, the notification is treated as done, and the 20-day window to pay or contest starts anyway.
So the DEV only helps if you actually read the alerts. Make sure the email address and mobile number you register are ones you check while travelling, and that your phone can receive SMS abroad. To sign up you need a way to identify yourself online, such as a digital certificate, an electronic DNI or Cl@ve, Spain’s government login system.
Option 2: Keep Your Address Up to Date With Tráfico
If you stay with paper notifications, the DGT needs a correct address. Its page on changing your notification address says you should tell Tráfico about a move within 15 days. You can do it:
- online, through the DGT’s electronic office, using Cl@ve or a digital certificate;
- in the miDGT app, under Ajustes, then Datos personales, then Domicilio de notificación;
- by phone on 060, where the DGT checks the new address against the padrón (the municipal register of residents).
The DGT also reminds drivers that the vehicle has its own address on record, the domicilio fiscal, which should be updated separately when you move. Its change of address page covers both.
An up-to-date address on its own does not solve the problem of being away, though. A correct address with nobody checking the letterbox still leads to an undelivered letter and a fine on the noticeboard.
Option 3: Make Sure Someone Is Watching Your Post
Whatever you choose for the DGT, the rest of your Spanish post still needs attention. Council fines, tax letters, bank correspondence and registered letters all follow their own rules, and many of them have short deadlines too. Our guide to what happens to registered letters in Spain when you’re away explains how Correos handles certified post you are not there to sign for.
Practical ways to stay on top of it include:
- A trusted neighbour or friend who checks your letterbox weekly and photographs anything official. This works, but it depends on goodwill and on them recognising what matters.
- Checking the official noticeboard yourself. The DGT lets you consult published sanctions whenever you like. It is a useful safety net, but it only shows fines that have already missed you by post.
- A mail handling service that receives your post, scans letters and lets you see them online the same week they arrive.
If you deal with a lot of official paperwork, our article on how to receive legal documents overseas safely goes into more detail on keeping important letters secure.
A Simple Routine Before You Leave Spain
- Sign up for the DEV, or check that your existing registration has your current email and mobile number.
- Confirm the notification address and the vehicle’s address are correct with Tráfico.
- If someone else will drive your car, consider registering them as the usual driver.
- Download the miDGT app so you can check and pay fines from abroad.
- Arrange for someone, or a service, to watch the rest of your post and tell you about anything official.
- Keep a note of the deadlines: 10 days to open a DEV notification, 10 days to identify a driver, 20 days for the discount or an appeal.
A Word on Getting Advice
This article is a general guide based on the DGT’s published information, not legal advice. Rules and procedures can change, and fines from councils or regional authorities may follow different steps. If you are disputing a fine or a deadline has already passed, check the DGT’s official pages or speak to a gestor or lawyer.
Keep Your Spanish Post Covered While You’re Away
Traffic fines are just one example of post that cannot sit unopened for weeks. At Letterbox.es we receive your mail and parcels, scan your letters so you can read them wherever you are, and store or forward items when you need them. It is a straightforward way to make sure the official letters that do reach your address don’t go unnoticed. Have a look at our plans to see which one suits how often you are away.