Lower DGT alcohol driving limits to be implemented in Spain
By Marc Menendez-Roche • Updated: 19 Oct 2024 • 12:14 • 1 minute read
New Breath Test Rules Set to Hit the Road in 2025- But What's the Real Impact? -Credit: Shutterstock.
The cat’s officially out of the bag! The Spanish Congress has given the green light to a proposal that’ll send shockwaves through many weekend plans, by cutting down the legal blood alcohol limit for all drivers.
What is the new breath test limit in Spain?
That’s right. We’re moving from the old 0.5 grams per litre down to a strict 0.20 grams per litre in blood. And if you think you can outsmart the breathalyser, think again! The new limit will slash the permissible breath alcohol level from 0.25 ml per litre of air to a mere 0.10 ml.
The PSOE-backed proposal squeaked through with 175 MPs voting in favour, with 33 against. But this change won’t kick in immediately.
When will the new breath test limit come into play?
If you’re wondering when you’ll need to start keeping an extra eye on your drink count, the new rules won’t be hitting the tarmac until 2025. First, the Interior Ministry needs to draft a full-don law change, tinkering with Article 20 of the General Traffic Regulations, aka “Blood Alcohol and Breath Rates.”
It’s all part of Spain’s plan to play catch-up with Nordic countries like Norway and Sweden, where drivers have been tiptoeing around tighter limits for years. The Socialist (Labour) party say it’s urgent – booze is behind 29% of fatal crashes, and last year, it held the grim title of second-biggest killer on the road.
How much alcohol is 0.2 anyway?
Now, what does this mean for your Friday night plans? Well, how many drinks is too many? Alcohol levels in the bloodstream can swing wildly depending on what you’re drinking, how fast, how much you’ve eaten, your weight, gender, and even your booze tolerance. For some, it could be as little as half a small glass of wine.
Those ‘just a couple of beers’ could land you with a reading that puts your licence – and your life – on the line. As the DGT tightens the noose, it’s time to stay sharp behind the wheel.
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Marc Menendez-Roche
Marc is a writer, educator, and language enthusiast with a background in business and legal communication. With over a decade of experience in writing and teaching, he brings a clear, engaging voice to complex topics—guided by a keen interest in educational neuroscience and how people learn. At Euro Weekly News, Marc contributes lifestyle features and community-focused stories that highlight everyday life across Spain. His ability to connect language, learning, and lived experience helps bring depth and relatability to the topics he covers.
Comments
Mario Vegas
20 October 2024 • 08:34Having genuinely witnessed many times over the years the Guardia sitting in local bars, Spanish owned bars I have to say, sitting drinking wine or Brandy, in full uniform with their lovely police vehicles sitting outside the bar or down the street from the bar. I would like to see the Spanish government introduce a law to say that whenever a driver is breathalysed the officer carrying out the test must produce his own breathalyser test result at the same time and give a copy to the driver he has stopped. This would be a fair way of ensuring that no one drinks and drives. However almost every single driver in Spain will be breaking the law when this new rule is introduced because a sip of wine will put you over the limit. It is just another unnecessary infringement on the people.
Peter
20 October 2024 • 14:19Advice on driving in the morning after drinking the previous evening will be needed as well as answering how much alcohol is OK before driving home.
John Little
20 October 2024 • 14:50Another reason I am so glad I was born when I was. After three years driving in the UK in 1970 I went to Australia, then Papua New Guinea then Spain. The whole of my life into middle age drinking moderately and driving was not a problem. True there are the excesses of youth, in Aus I remember my mates having to help me onto my 650 Triumph so I could ride home. In New Guinea the police gave me a lift home after I fell asleep in my car in the middle of the road. Then when I didn’t come to the police station to collect it they brought it back to the bank mess for me. Not a word of a lie.
Its part of life, most of us made it through. Todays nanny state and the snowflakes twitch in horror seeing kids playing conkers whilst those kids are agonising at which sex they are supposed to be.
Yes I am very glad to be a baby boomer, probably our luckiest generation ever.
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