Traffic Fines in Spain: Paying with 50% Off, Points and Appeals
DGT, Servei Català de Trànsit or Barcelona city council: who issued your fine decides where you pay, when the discount ends and how you contest it.
Spanish traffic fines get a 50% discount if you pay within 20 calendar days of the notice, but paying that way means giving up your right to appeal. In Barcelona, fines come from one of three bodies: the city council for offenses inside the city, the Servei Català de Trànsit (Catalonia’s traffic authority) on Catalan roads, or the national DGT. You pay and appeal with whoever issued the fine.
Who fined you?
Check the header of the notice before you do anything. Each authority has its own payment and appeal channels, and a payment sent to the wrong one does not cancel the fine.
| Issuer | Typical offenses | Where to pay or appeal |
|---|---|---|
| Ajuntament de Barcelona (fines by the Guàrdia Urbana, Barcelona’s city police, or city cameras) | Speeding and red lights in the city, parking, bus lanes, the low-emission zone | Institut Municipal d’Hisenda (the city’s tax and fines office) |
| Servei Català de Trànsit (SCT) | Offenses on roads in Catalonia, usually reported by the Mossos d’Esquadra (Catalonia’s police) or road cameras | SCT through the Generalitat’s procedures portal or its regional traffic offices |
| Dirección General de Tráfico (DGT) | Offenses on roads in the rest of Spain, outside Catalonia and the Basque Country | DGT electronic office |
The DGT says it plainly: if the fine is from a city council or a regional government, deal with them, not with the DGT.
How does the 50% discount work?
The rule is the same for the DGT, the SCT and the Barcelona city council, as of November 2026:
- You have 20 calendar days from the day you receive the notice to pay with a 50% reduction.
- Paying with the reduction means you waive your right to present objections (alegaciones). Any appeal filed after paying has no effect.
- If you file an objection instead, you lose the discount. If it is rejected, you pay 100%.
- A few serious offenses never get the discount, including driving with a radar jammer.
After the 20 days the full amount is due. The DGT gives 45 days from the notice to pay in full; after that the debt passes to the tax agency with a 20% surcharge. Barcelona’s city council gives a further 25 calendar days at the full amount once the discount period ends. For SCT fines, unpaid debts go to the Agència Tributària de Catalunya (Catalonia’s tax agency) with the surcharge it sets.
How do you pay a fine in Barcelona?
For city fines, the Institut Municipal d’Hisenda accepts:
- Online payment by card or Bizum, without a digital certificate.
- Phone payment through 010, the city information line (931 537 010 from outside the metropolitan area).
- Collaborating banks, through online banking, branches or cash machines.
- Post offices, paying the money order fee.
A yellow ticket left by a Guàrdia Urbana officer can be paid at any Guàrdia Urbana territorial unit within 48 hours; after that you wait for the notice by post. Parking tickets in Àrea Blava and Àrea Verda zones can also be paid at the municipal car pounds. If the ticket concerns the low-emission zone, the same city channels apply.
What are the DEV and the TEU?
The DEV (Dirección Electrónica Vial) is an electronic mailbox for traffic notices run by the DGT. The DGT, the SCT and adhered city councils, including Barcelona, can send fines there instead of by post. It is compulsory for companies and voluntary for individuals; you sign up on the DGT website with an electronic DNI or a digital certificate, and you get an email or SMS when a notice arrives.
If a fine sent by post cannot be delivered, it is published in the TEU (Tablón Edictal Único), the single edicts board of the Spanish official gazette. That replaced the old traffic edicts board known as TESTRA. Publication there counts as notification, so a fine can become final without you seeing a letter. Keep your address up to date with the DGT and the padrón; our guide to registering on the padrón covers the city side.
How do penalty points work, including on a foreign licence?
Spain uses a points licence (permiso por puntos). Most drivers start with 12 points; new drivers, and anyone who gets a licence back after losing it, start with 8. Three years without point-losing offenses add 2 points, and another three add 1, up to a maximum of 15. Serious and very serious offenses cost 2, 3, 4 or 6 points each, and as a rule no more than 8 points can be lost in one day, with exceptions for some very serious offenses. At zero, the DGT starts a procedure to withdraw the right to drive.
Points are recorded by the DGT for offenses anywhere in Spain, including fines from the SCT and city councils. Drivers with foreign licences are also subject to the system for offenses committed in Spain, and losing all points means losing the right to drive in Spain. If you live here, check whether your licence must be exchanged; see driving in Spain on a foreign licence.
How do you appeal?
- Within 20 calendar days of the notice, file alegaciones with the authority that fined you, with new facts or evidence. You lose the 50% discount.
- If you were not the driver, identify the person who was driving within the deadline on the notice. For offenses with points, identification is compulsory, and failing to do it is itself an offense.
- If the objection is rejected, you can file a recurso de reposición (administrative appeal) within one month of that decision, at least for DGT fines.
- After that, the only route is the administrative courts, which needs a lawyer and a court representative.
For city fines, Barcelona’s tax office has its own page for objections and appeals, and you can view the camera photos of an offense online.
Bottom line
Read the issuer and the notification date first: they decide where to pay and when the 20-day discount ends. If you have a real defense, file it before the discount deadline; if you do not, paying at 50% is the cheapest outcome. For large fines or a licence at risk, talk to a lawyer who handles traffic cases.
FAQ
Can I pay a Spanish fine from abroad?
Yes. The DGT accepts payment from abroad, and the 50% discount applies in the same 20-day window. Barcelona city fines can be paid online by card.
Can I pay in installments?
Not DGT fines, which cannot be split or deferred. Barcelona’s city council has a separate procedure to split municipal debts and fines.
How do I check my points?
Through the DGT’s electronic office or the miDGT app, which also issue a points certificate.
Does a parking ticket cost me points?
Ordinary parking offenses usually do not take points. Points are lost for serious and very serious offenses such as speeding well over the limit or using a phone while driving.
