Things You Must Carry In Your Car By Law When Driving In Spain

The Short Answer: What Is Compulsory and What Is Not

• Compulsory documents: driving licence, permiso de circulación and ITV card, plus a valid ITV sticker on the windscreen.
• Compulsory equipment: connected V-16 beacon, one reflective vest, and a spare wheel with tools or a repair kit. An approved child seat is compulsory for every child who measures 135 cm or less.
• Compulsory only where signposted: snow chains or winter tyres.
• No longer required: warning triangles in a Spanish-registered car (since 1 January 2026), a set of spare bulbs (since July 2010), and the insurance policy or receipt (since 2008). The insurance itself is still compulsory.
• Recommended, not compulsory: spare glasses, a first aid kit, a torch, an accident report form and, in a car, a fire extinguisher.

The rest of this guide takes each item in turn, with the fines the DGT gives and what the Guardia Civil actually checks.

Why This Still Confuses People

Part of the confusion stems from outdated information online, word-of-mouth myths, and regional enforcement differences. Some articles still tell you to carry two warning triangles, even though the connected V-16 beacon replaced them for Spanish-registered cars on 1 January 2026. Others still say spare glasses are compulsory, which they are not, or miss the six-month rule for UK driving licences. If you’re relying on Reddit threads or advice from your neighbour’s uncle, you’re risking a costly mistake. This article sets the record straight.

Documents: The Three You Must Carry and Two You Need Not

The three compulsory documents can be carried as originals or certified copies. A Spanish licence and permiso de circulación can also be shown in the DGT’s official miDGT service.

• Valid driving licence (compulsory): Must be recognised in Spain. A visitor can drive on a valid UK photocard licence, and visitors from some other countries also need an international driving permit. Once you live in Spain, a UK licence is valid for six months from the date you became resident and must then be exchanged for a Spanish one. EU and EEA licences stay valid, although some must be renewed in Spain after two years of residence. A Spanish licence can be shown as the card or in the DGT’s official miDGT service, which has the same legal value inside Spain. Full details here: Exchanging your licence.
• ITV card and valid ITV sticker (compulsory): The ITV card (tarjeta de inspección técnica, often called the ficha técnica) must travel with the car. Cars must pass the ITV, the Spanish equivalent of an MOT, once they are four years old. The sticker goes in the top right corner of the windscreen, and the DGT says to keep the latest test report with the card. See our guide to the ITV test in Spain.
• Permiso de circulación (compulsory): Your vehicle logbook. This shows registration number, VIN, and ownership. It must be in the car whenever the car is on the road. For a Spanish-registered car it can also be shown in miDGT, with the same legal value inside Spain. Outside Spain, take the paper documents.
• Proof of insurance (not compulsory to carry): The insurance itself is compulsory, but the paper is not. Since 2008 you do not have to carry the policy or the latest receipt in a Spanish-registered car, because officers can check on the spot whether the vehicle is insured. The DGT still advises keeping them in the glovebox. If you are visiting in a UK-registered car, carry your insurance certificate. More in our guide to car insurance receipts and what the DGT asks for.
• European Accident Statement Form (not compulsory) (Declaración Amistosa): Not mandatory, but incredibly useful in the event of a collision. Get a bilingual one from your insurer and keep it pre-filled with your details.

The three documents you must always carry, and the fine if you cannot show them, have their own guide: the three documents you must carry in your car.

V-16 Beacon: Replacing Traditional Triangles

Since 1 January 2026 the connected V-16 beacon is the only legal way to mark a broken down or crashed vehicle that is registered in Spain. Warning triangles no longer count, and neither do older V-16 lights that have no connection. The beacon is a flashing yellow light that you put on the roof without getting out of the car, so nobody has to walk along a motorway. When you switch it on, it sends the position of the car to the DGT.

• Who must carry one: cars, vans, mixed-use vehicles, lorries and buses registered in Spain. Motorcycles do not have to, although the DGT recommends it.
• Which beacons count: only the models on the DGT’s official list of certified beacons, which have been tested by the IDIADA or LCOE laboratories. The price has to include at least 12 years of connection, so there is no subscription to pay.
• Where to keep it: in the glovebox, charged and within reach.
• The fine: the DGT states that not having the beacon in the car is a minor offence with a fine of €80, the same amount as it was for not carrying triangles. Paid within 20 calendar days it is €40.
• Foreign-registered cars: the DGT’s position, set out in an instruction of January 2025 and repeated on its V-16 page, is that vehicles registered in other countries and visiting Spain may use warning triangles (podrán utilizar los triángulos). A UK-registered car on a visit therefore complies by carrying triangles, and needs the beacon only once it is on Spanish plates. See our guide to driving a UK registered car in Spain.
• Spanish cars abroad: the DGT says a Spanish-registered car may use the beacon in place of triangles in other countries that have signed the Vienna road traffic conventions.

Other Safety Equipment You Must Carry

• Reflective safety vest (compulsory): The law requires one high-visibility vest in the car. The driver must put it on before stepping onto the carriageway or hard shoulder of a road outside town. The DGT says every occupant who gets out should wear one too, by day or by night, so one for each seat is sensible. The DGT’s advice is to keep it inside the car, not in the boot, so that you can put it on before you open the door. The DGT gives the penalty for not wearing it as a €200 fine and four licence points. Since 1 October 2026 motorcycles must carry a vest as well, and the rider must wear it in the same situation.
• Child car seats (compulsory): Children who measure 135 cm or less must travel in an approved child seat that suits their height and weight. They must sit in the back, unless the car has no back seats, the back seats are already taken by other children of that height, or the child seats will not all fit there. A rear-facing seat can only go in the front if the front airbag is switched off. Not using a child seat is a serious offence: a €200 fine and four licence points for the driver, and the police can stop the car from going any further.
• Spare tyre or puncture repair kit (compulsory): The law asks for a full-size or space-saver spare wheel with the tools to change it, or an alternative system that keeps the car moving, such as a puncture repair kit.
• Snow chains or winter tyres (compulsory only where signposted): Winter tyres are not compulsory in Spain and no winter kit has to be in the car all year. Where the snow chains sign is shown, or officers order it, you may not drive on without chains or winter tyres. The DGT says a car on winter tyres does not need chains.

A car without the beacon, the vest, or the spare wheel or repair kit commits a minor offence. The DGT gives the fine for a missing beacon as €80, and the table of fixed fines published for police forces in Andalusia sets the same €80 for any missing item on the list, or €40 if paid within 20 calendar days.

What you do carry must be stowed safely. Bags or luggage loose on the back seat can bring a €200 fine if they could move about dangerously: see what you must not carry loose on the back seat.

Highly Recommended Extras (Not Legally Required)

• First aid kit: Particularly important if you're driving in rural areas.
• Fire extinguisher: Compulsory only in buses and in goods vehicles of more than 3,500 kg. In a car it is recommended for long-distance or mountain driving.
• Torch/flashlight: For night-time breakdowns or signalling for help.
• Blanket: Especially if you’re driving in winter or into the mountains.
• Spare drinking water: Especially in Andalusia or Valencia in summer. See our guide to drinking water safety.
• Spare glasses: Not compulsory, whatever you may have been told. They are not on the legal list of what a car must carry. The DGT simply advises carrying a second pair if you need glasses to drive.
• Spare bulbs: No longer required. The duty to carry a set of spare bulbs was taken out of the regulations in July 2010, because many modern lights can only be changed in a workshop.
• Road tax receipt (IVTM): Not compulsory, but smart to carry it. Especially useful when transferring ownership or during inspections.

How Police Checkpoints Work

Routine roadside checks are more common than many expats realise. In cities and rural areas, the Guardia Civil may stop you without reason and request to see your licence, ITV, insurance, and even physical items like the hi-vis vest. They may also ask to see the V-16 beacon. Under the traffic law, minor offences are fined up to €100 and serious ones €200, and paying within 20 calendar days halves the fine. Our guide to paying traffic fines in Spain explains how.

Regional Enforcement Differences

The list of what you must carry is national law, so it is the same in all 17 autonomous communities. What changes from place to place is the signage, which in Catalonia and the Basque Country may be in Catalan or Basque, and the rules each town sets for its own streets. Many towns now have low-emission zones, and a town hall can make the DGT environmental sticker compulsory on Spanish-registered cars. The stickers are not issued to cars on foreign plates, and some cities, such as Barcelona, ask those drivers to register the vehicle before entering.

Expats With Used or Inherited Cars

If you purchased your car second-hand or inherited it, double-check that all the required items are present. Sellers often forget to include the reflective vest, the V-16 beacon or the repair tools, and most do not include the accident form. You, the new owner, are 100% responsible once the car is in your name — not the previous owner or garage.

Driving Flip-Flops, Phones, and Dash Cams

• Flip-flops: Legal, but risky. If you’re involved in an accident while wearing them, you could still be fined. More everyday rules are in our guide to Spanish traffic laws you may not be aware of.
• Phones: Only legal when used hands-free. Holding your phone — even while stopped — is a fineable offence.
• Dash cams: Legal but must not obstruct your view. If it records passengers, this may fall foul of data protection rules. Radar detectors are banned: carrying one in the car is a €200 fine and three licence points.

Car Hire and Rental Vehicles

If you rent a car in Spain, the rental company, as the owner, should supply everything on this list: the documents, a valid ITV sticker, the reflective vest and, since 1 January 2026, a connected V-16 beacon. The DGT’s advice is to check that it is all there before you drive away, because under the traffic law the person who rents a short-term hire car answers for the offences committed with it. See our guide to car hire for expats.

Emergency Essentials to Keep in the Glovebox

• Multi-language accident form, pre-filled with your details
• Emergency phone numbers — 112, insurance, breakdown service
• Certified photocopies of key documents (if not carrying originals)
• Receipt from last ITV test and IVTM tax payment (optional)
• Small printed map or route in case of GPS signal loss

What Happens If You’re Caught Without Something?

Missing documents or safety items mean a fine. If you cannot show that you live in Spain, the officer sets the amount there and then and you pay on the spot, by card or in cash, with the 50% reduction for prompt payment taken into account. If you do not pay, the car is immobilised. A car can also be immobilised if it has no insurance, has no valid authorisation to be on the road, or is carrying a child without the child seat the law requires.

Sources

Checked on 12 November 2026 against the official texts: Reglamento General de Vehículos, article 26 and annex XII; Reglamento General de Circulación, articles 117, 118 and 130; the DGT page on the V-16 beacon; and the DGT page on vehicle documents.

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