Spain Speed Limit

Exactly one week before the UN Road Safety Week, which focuses society’s attention on speed limits, Spain took a big step towards positive change for mobility in cities. A few years ago, some Spanish cities like Madrid, Barcelona and Bilbao introduced speed restrictions. Now these have been implemented across the whole country and are in force since May 11, 2021. 20 km/h applies to single-lane and two-lane streets with bidirectional traffic shared by pedestrians and motorized traffic.30 km/h instead of 50 km/h now applies to single-lane roads where the sidewalk is raised above the roadway. Fines range from 100 to 600 euros. The speed limits are intended to lower accident rates and reduce noise pollution. In 2019, 509 people died in urban road traffic in Spain. The new speed limits can reduce the risk of a fatal accidents by 80%, according to the head of the Spanish Road Transport Agency (DGT), Pere Navarro. This makes Spain the first country in the world to implement 30 km/h as a general speed limit for urban roads. 80% of the urban city roads can now become safer and more livable thanks to these speed regulations.