Driving in Spain: licence, roads and tolls

Most toll motorways are now free, and the emergency kit changed: the V-16 beacon replaced warning triangles in January 2026.

• The V-16 is compulsory. The connected beacon sits on the roof if you break down and reports the position automatically. Warning triangles no longer satisfy the law, and a hire car should have one - check before leaving the desk.
• Most of the toll autopistas were freed in 2021. What remains is around Catalonia, the Basque Country, Madrid and a few tunnels; the AP-7 along the coast is free.
• The alcohol limit is 0.5 g/l, and 0.3 g/l for drivers in their first two years.
• Motorway speed is 120 km/h, and urban limits are 30 km/h on single-lane-each-way streets, which is most of a Spanish city.
• Fuel stations close at night in rural Spain more often than visitors expect; fill up before a long evening drive across Extremadura or Aragon.