Spanish traffic police

[Slowly]

A few hours ago we returned from Andalusia where I was paying particular attention to the frequency of cameras, traffic police etc as we're planning a road trip in my own car in the autumn to N Spain and I'm only too aware how easy it is to exceed the limit in the GS. Fixed cameras seem rare, traffic police numerous.

Yesterday on the N340, piloting my Nissan Micra hire car with "Europcar" on the numberplate surround, I passed a stationary G Civil marked traffic car with a grey unmarked 4WD parked beside (Nissan or Duster, I didn't pay that much attention, later I had ample opportunity to see that it had lights behind the grille, a set of cameras on the dash and a uniformed policeman driving it). A little while later the unmarked car came up behind me at speed and then sat ******* my tail - no blue lights - and wove side to side a little for about 500m - 1km. I remained at the speed limit (80kph on that stretch) and after about 1-2km while he indicated, overtook, and did the same weaving about hard behind a van about 100m further up the road.

I may be mistaken but I got the vibe that he was trying to push us over the limit - there was little oncoming traffic and if he'd wanted to overtake he could have done so with ease (with or without use of his blue lights had he wanted to keep icognito).

My only other encounter with the Spanish traffic police otherwise has been once, some 22 years ago, travelling over the limit on an empty motorway in a UK plated Volvo estate (!) I was pulled over but the G Civil, while asking for papers etc (which were in a bag in the back), decided to wave us on with a telling-off when my wife apologised, speaking to him in her native Spanish and he saw our then-baby and very cute eldest daughter asleep in her child seat.. I think his heart softened, he didn't want to wake her and decided that a verbal warning would be sufficient.

Any other experiences of the traffic police there more recently?

 

[hilts uk]

We have had property in Spain for the last 10 years so I've driven there more than most. I've had a few speeding tickets in Spain from cameras but they are cheap compared to the UK. The Policia Local are teh worse I found and will look to give out tickets for every minor offence probably to raise revenue. The Guardia Civil who police the motorways are not very visible and I've had no issue with them, that is unless you get stopped by one their frequent road blocks and then they are looking usually for drugs and tend to stop younger men. My Polish builder often gets pulled over this way, I've always been waved on as I'm with family or in a rent a car which marks me as tourist

 

[whereskeith]

None of the police here are very pleasant, the local police are ok but firm.
The guardia civil are absolute ba*****s... Do not give them a reason to stop you as they do not play fair.
There are not many cameras compared to the uk and the fines for speeding increase with higher speed. Anything over 180kph and your car will get impounded..
On the bright side there is a lot less traffic here and the country roads are epic.

 

[alfatwo]

None of the police here are very pleasant, the local police are ok but firm.
The guardia civil are absolute ba*****s... Do not give them a reason to stop you as they do not play fair.
There are not many cameras compared to the uk and the fines for speeding increase with higher speed. Anything over 180kph and your car will get impounded..
On the bright side there is a lot less traffic here and the country roads are epic.

Here in Madrid the Guardia are total basta*d's, one time they had me out of the car at gun point!

The Local in Alcobendas are ok once they've seen your plate a few times

Up in the mountains the roads are fantastic though, no ones about and all paid since 1992 for with UK, err EU money!

Dave

 

[Slowly]

Thanks. We've been frequently, but always either in our own unexciting estate cars when the children were still holidaying with us or in small hire cars, but the combination of the GS and a multi-parador stay is very appealing. The roads can be fantastic, as you say, often good and almost empty. I've watched them transformed over the decades, in the past with big signs saying that the EU had contributed x hundred million pesetas to that stretch - perhaps we should have had similar signs saying how many millions of £ they were providing / returning for some regeneration project in the old mining areas of the UK etc.

One sees executive-type cars travelling way over the limit on the autopistas / autovias but I'd not known about the 180kph impounding rule - that would put a heavy damper on the holiday so best avoided! I've no urge to try to Vmax the car but one does have to be careful... and my wife tells me there was a programme on the telly when we were there last week about the traffic patrol helicopters.

 

[Jkulin]

I regularly stay with an old school friend who lives right up in the Alpujarras Mountains of Southern Spain, mind blowing roads that I keep saying I need to take the 911 around, you have to be so careful when driving from Malaga to her place as the tunnels are full of speed cameras and I got done last year, but at least you get a 50% discount if you pay early which is more than I can say for the UK.

The roads down there are brilliant for cycling as well, took my bike last year and although hard work with climbing the mountain roads, the surfaces were 100 times better the UK, just remember it is compulsory to wear a helmet in Spain.

 

[Slowly]

Hmm, that's why they were going so slowly through the tunnels yesterday. I only saw two fixed cameras advertised between Malaga and Salobreña, both on gantries in the open. A bit of snow in the Alpujarras. The other thing for cycling is that as one of the great cycling nations (as the Tour, Vuelta, Giro shows..) the Spanish are cyclist-friendly.

 

[Jkulin]

Hmm, that's why they were going so slowly through the tunnels yesterday. I only saw two fixed cameras advertised between Malaga and Salobreña, both on gantries in the open. A bit of snow in the Alpujarras. The other thing for cycling is that as one of the great cycling nations (as the Tour, Vuelta, Giro shows..) the Spanish are cyclist-friendly.

Yep just like riding in France, really respectful of cyclists.

Watch the tunnels as there are a good number of cameras in the tunnels that are quite discreet, to be fair they do warn you that they are in there.