I can imagine that if this is true there will be so many legal challenges. £400 for 1km over the speed limit?

If it is true how can you challenge it? If all the copper needs is your reg number then you could be back home when the letter arrives with the fine in it. How can you prove that you were not speeding? What an easy way to improve your detection rates and collect loads of euros.

Here's a link to the fines due and points taken, sorry it's in spanish
http://noticias.telenauto.com/tabla-velocidad_57.htm

Multa is the word for the fine

Google translate fixes it. Looking at it the fines do kick in at 1Kph over the limit.

Well they won't even need speed cameras soon

http://www.iol.co.za/motoring/industry-news/mandatory-big-brother-tech-for-europe-1.1686839#.U3Sz0xlwa1s

Once we all have these they can just send us the summons each time our black box tells them we have done something wrong!

Hi De Hi wrote:

Google translate fixes it. Looking at it the fines do kick in at 1Kph over the limit.

Yes they do, but you have to be doing way over the limit to get a 400 euro fine. I was doing 64kmh in a 40 zone, and I actually lost my licence for a month as well as having a big fine. This was a few years ago now.

Do you live in Spain?

I was just wondering what the law says. If you get a letter from a Spanish court with a fine, points or ban just how legal is it over here? If you ignored it what can they do as long as you never went back to Spain (or at least didn't go again in the same car).

Yes, I do live in Spain, well in Lanzarote. I do know that tourists who are caught are fined on the spot, and if they don't have money on them are escorted to an ATM and made to get the money out. As far as points are concerned I have no idea because here we have points deducted from our licences instead of added. We start off with a certain amount of points, depending on various factors, and then they get deducted for any offence committed.

I do know that tourists who are caught are fined on the spot, and if they don't have money on them are escorted to an ATM and made to get the money out.

Not anymore Sue, the law was changed last year - From March 2013 it is forbidden to pay local traffic fines in cash - So no traffic officer should demand payment.

AVISO IMPORTANTE: A partir del 4 de marzo de 2013, las Jefaturas Provinciales de tráfico NO admitirán el pago de multas en metálico.

http://www.traficoayuda.es/n-325-trafico-ya-no-admite-el-pago-de-multas-en-metalico

The Spanish transport department reckon there are over 3 million euros worth of outstanding fines for traffic offences in Malaga province alone, so some provinces have outsourced the task of collecting the fines to a firm called NIVI Gestiones, who will track down drivers with outstanding fines across Europe, and this service is based on reciprocal agreements with the respective countries.

If you get fined, you have several ways to pay-: either via the Post Office or at a Santander Bank, or call 060 and pay with your debit or credit card, or pay online via the DGT (traffic authority) website.....( Apart from the website, the other methods of payment are for paying whilst in Spain)
If you pay the fine within 20 days of the incident, there is a 50% reduction.
https://sede.dgt.gob.es/es/tramites-y-multas/alguna-multa/pago-de-multas/

The firm will notify the authorities in the respective countries, I would assume that means the DVLA in England and a letter/demand will be sent to the owner of the vehicle (written in English) with a password to obtain more information - I take that to mean, the type of offence, time, date etc.... and if you want to contest it?
If you hire a car, the fine will be sent to the hire company and there may be an added administration fee, so they'll get you that way too.

Somewhere in the depths of my brain, I remember reading that a European directive (or some type of legislation) skirts around the DPA to allow a certain amount of information to be exchanged between the member states for traffic offences. The DVLA have been caught out in the past for selling on private information, so I can't see them being too concerned about privacy.

If you tell them to booger off, I don't know how you would stand legally if you get a demand from the firm or whether they contact the DVLA just for your information only - and if there are points involved, are the DVLA going to implement them?

Working within the European directive/law/sanctions that allows them to track down drivers - NIVI Gestiones must think that they have a good chance of recuperating the outstanding money.

Sanji x

Thanks Sanji

Now they can pay fines on the spot with a credit card ¿?

So how long before we start getting spoof phone calls pretending to be from Gestationes or some such name asking us to pay our Spanish speeding fines?

I'm sure they'll be able to get lists of potential offenders from car hire firms/ferry companies etc.

(I'm glad I use the bus when I'm abroad)

josefa wrote:

Now they can pay fines on the spot with a credit card ¿?

Hi Josefa
I'm not understanding your post
By the use of question marks are you querying that you can pay the fine via a credit card, or are you saying that the traffic officers now have some sort of card reader for motorists to pay by credit card on the spot?

Sanji x

Sanji wrote:

I do know that tourists who are caught are fined on the spot, and if they don't have money on them are escorted to an ATM and made to get the money out.

Not anymore Sue, the law was changed last year - From March 2013 it is forbidden to pay local traffic fines in cash - So no traffic officer should demand payment.

AVISO IMPORTANTE: A partir del 4 de marzo de 2013, las Jefaturas Provinciales de tráfico NO admitirán el pago de multas en metálico.

http://www.traficoayuda.es/n-325-trafico-ya-no-admite-el-pago-de-multas-en-metalico

The Spanish transport department reckon there are over 3 million euros worth of outstanding fines for traffic offences in Malaga province alone, so some provinces have outsourced the task of collecting the fines to a firm called NIVI Gestiones, who will track down drivers with outstanding fines across Europe, and this service is based on reciprocal agreements with the respective countries.

If you get fined, you have several ways to pay-: either via the Post Office or at a Santander Bank, or call 060 and pay with your debit or credit card, or pay online via the DGT (traffic authority) website.....( Apart from the website, the other methods of payment are for paying whilst in Spain)
If you pay the fine within 20 days of the incident, there is a 50% reduction.
https://sede.dgt.gob.es/es/tramites-y-multas/alguna-multa/pago-de-multas/

The firm will notify the authorities in the respective countries, I would assume that means the DVLA in England and a letter/demand will be sent to the owner of the vehicle (written in English) with a password to obtain more information - I take that to mean, the type of offence, time, date etc.... and if you want to contest it?
If you hire a car, the fine will be sent to the hire company and there may be an added administration fee, so they'll get you that way too.

Somewhere in the depths of my brain, I remember reading that a European directive (or some type of legislation) skirts around the DPA to allow a certain amount of information to be exchanged between the member states for traffic offences. The DVLA have been caught out in the past for selling on private information, so I can't see them being too concerned about privacy.

If you tell them to booger off, I don't know how you would stand legally if you get a demand from the firm or whether they contact the DVLA just for your information only - and if there are points involved, are the DVLA going to implement them?

Working within the European directive/law/sanctions that allows them to track down drivers - NIVI Gestiones must think that they have a good chance of recuperating the outstanding money.

Sanji x

going by your helpful and informative posts sanji you like the facts and so as not to upset our celtic neighbours I'm led to believe there are no local offices in england its all via the dvla in sunny Swansea so it wales now not england

Sorry, I honestly don't have a problem where the DVLA is situated - I probably should have worded it differently, but I tend to think in an 'English' way - in other words, I live in England and they'd chase after me via the DVLA, chose where it's situated - I don't do the 'British' thing very well.

I'm still looking into this, and I'll be doing another post soon - It doesn't effect me because there's no way I'd drive abroad, but it is interesting to find out.

Sanji x

Sorry, I've been occupied with other things, but I have done a bit of delving today.
From what I've found out, this system cannot force drivers to pay up because there is no Europe- wide mechanism for enforcing the payment of administrative penalties.
The info that was at the back of my brain regarding sharing a certain amount of data between the member states, is a scheme called EUCARIS (European car and driving license information system), which is mandatory for member states.

According to the link below (as of 22 August 2013) and if you look at the table. We (UK) didn't sign up for a bilateral agreement where traffic fines are concerned.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EUCARIS

So, basically, you've got the public sector in Spain, employing the private sector (NIVI Gestiones) to act as debt collectors.

If it was me and whilst I'd be annoyed if a firm put pressure on me with the type of threatening language that they tend to use in these letters. What I would be careful of though, is if you stack a few unpaid traffic fines up and you regularly hire a car in Spain, you might find yourself being black listed.

When you use the government on-line link to pay a fine, apparently, you enter the password on your letter to get into the site, and here after entering your passport details, it lists all your traffic sins and non-payments alongside your passport number. If you qualify for a reduction because you've paid within 20 days, the system will automatically adjust the amount taken from your CC.

Now if the Spanish were clever enough, when they receive your API from the airlines, it may give them another avenue to pursue this money..... It's just a thought that's crossed my mind, but I did say, if they were clever enough.

Anyway, NIVI Gestiones sing their achievements in the link below ( translated)
http://www.femp.es/CartaLocal/Front/Noticias/CL_ContenidoDetalle/_sYcniRvuy5lxggsnAX0DNgyiQrAn9U5lVG9-jbYYD_c&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dnivi%2Bgestiones%2Bespana%2Bs.l%26biw%3D1536%26bih%3D729" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="break-word">http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.femp.es/CartaLocal/Front/Noticias/CL_ContenidoDetalle/_sYcniRvuy5lxggsnAX0DNgyiQrAn9U5lVG9-jbYYD_c&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dnivi%2Bgestiones%2Bespana%2Bs.l%26biw%3D1536%26bih%3D729

And just to give you food for thought - thousands of foreign drivers get away with not paying traffic fines in the UK.

Sanji x