THE WAYPOINT SUR
Is that enough room for passing?
Ten days, and almost nothing waits
From Thursday 1 October, almost all of Spain's rewritten road rules apply to drivers, riders and cyclists across the Costa, ten days from today. Royal Decree 518/2026, the regulation amending Spain's general traffic code, enters into force that day. Confirmed September 2026
The DGT — Spain's national traffic authority summarised the reform in a press release on 23 June. The legal text sits in the BOE — Spain's official state gazette. Where the two differ, the BOE controls.
Our read: the later dates are narrow and easy to mistake for a general delay.
What actually waits
Only equipment, in three groups:
Moped helmets. Moped riders and passengers may keep certified helmets until 1 October 2027. Motorbike helmets get no extra year.
E-scooter daytime lights. Compulsory from 1 October 2027. Night lighting is not deferred.
Specifications for gloves, bike child seats and bike trailers. These wait on a ministerial order, with no fixed date.
Protective gloves are required from 1 October. The pending order only sets the technical standard. Motorbike and moped riders and passengers wear protective gloves on interurban roads, meaning roads outside built-up areas, of "the same characteristics as those used today".
That order is the marker to watch. We found none in the BOE issues published from 26 June to 18 September. Until one enters into force, ordinary protective gloves are the standard. Confirmed September 2026
Check which of these applies to you
If you drive a car
Passing a vehicle immobilised by a breakdown, accident, emergency or roadside assistance, road maintenance or traffic control, where it occupies all or part of your lane: leave at least 1.5 m and slow to at least 20 km/h below the limit. €200. Confirmed September 2026
That rule applies in town as well as out of it. A van parked normally at the kerb is not automatically covered.
Emergency corridor, on an autopista — motorway or an autovía — dual-carriageway motorway only, when traffic is stopped or at walking pace. The hard shoulder is not the corridor.
Two lanes: split, gap in the middle. Three or more: the far-left lane moves left, every other lane moves right. Road class can change along one road number, so check the stretch you are on.
Overtaking cyclists, pedestrians, animals, mopeds or e-scooters outside built-up areas: at least 20 km/h below the limit.
The 1.5 m gap for cycles and mopeds, and a full lane change where more than one lane runs your way, have applied since March 2022. Failing the 1.5 m cyclist clearance or endangering a cyclist: €200 and six points.
In town, stay at least 5 m behind a cyclist in the same lane. €200 and four points.
Seatbelt exemptions for taxi drivers, delivery vehicles and instructors or examiners supervising learners at the additional controls are gone; other listed exceptions survive. €200 and four points for the driver.
If you ride a motorbike or moped, or sit on the back
Protective gloves on interurban roads, such as the sections of the A-397 between Ronda and San Pedro de Alcántara outside built-up areas. Closed footwear covering the whole foot on every road.
The exception: a vehicle whose inspection card or moped certificate documents self-protection structures and seatbelts. Occupants wear the belt instead of helmet, gloves and footwear.
The helmet year to 1 October 2027 is for mopeds only. The DGT's summary says motorcycles in one paragraph; the decree says mopeds, and the decree controls.
Motorbikes carry a compliant high-visibility vest from 1 October. The rider wears it when outside the vehicle on an interurban carriageway or hard shoulder.
Riding for work: a high-visibility vest while riding, on all roads.
If you ride an e-scooter
A fastened, certified or homologated helmet. At night or in poor visibility, a compliant luminous or reflective element visible at 150 m; a vest is one option. Minimum age 15 under the new urban rules.
Daytime lights from 1 October 2027. Riding on the pavement was already banned before this reform.
Riding for work: a high-visibility vest on all roads.
If you ride a bicycle
A helmet on interurban roads for every rider and passenger, with no exemption left for climbs or heat. Under-16s wear one on all roads. €200, no points.
Riding for work: a helmet in town and on through-roads too, and a high-visibility vest on all roads.
If you park a motorhome
Nothing extended beyond the vehicle's outline seen from above, weight on the tyres (safety wedges are allowed), and no discharge of fluids from the living quarters. It applies outside towns too. Up to €100 for a simple breach.
Once you have found your block, our guide to Spain's new traffic rules for 2026 carries the detail vehicle by vehicle.
What it costs
There is no single fine. For most of the grave offences above, the standard figure is €200, though the law has exceptions and allows increases.
Eligible payment within 20 calendar days, counted from the day after notification, halves the money. The points stay. Points attach only to drivers of vehicles that need a licence, so cyclists, e-scooter riders and passengers lose none. Confirmed September 2026
What a closer read of the decree shows
Reading the decree line by line changes two things we have told you before.
On 31 August we covered this decree for licence holders and gave four points for every overtaking breach. As the car block above shows, failing the 1.5 m cyclist clearance carries six. The e-scooter pavement ban we described as new already existed.
On 7 May we dated three traffic rules to 1 May. The 20 km/h passing rule above was one of them. It starts on 1 October, and none of the three started on 1 May.
Spanish-lite
¿Este tramo es autovía o carretera convencional? — Is this stretch a dual-carriageway motorway or an ordinary road? Useful when the corridor rule depends on road class.
Tengo el coche averiado y ocupa el carril. — My car has broken down and is blocking the lane. For the call to roadside assistance.
The bottom line
From 1 October, almost all of this reform applies. Two concessions run to 1 October 2027; three specifications await an order. The gloves go on, and passing a qualifying stopped vehicle means at least 1.5 m clearance and at least 20 km/h below the limit.
Not bad for a Monday — A. and the WaypointSur team, gloves on before the paperwork arrives.
