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Driving on Spanish roads with a motorhome: Regulation 2023
Driving, parking a motorhome, camping or spending the night in a motorhome are the first questions you ask yourself when you want to get started in this world.
Here we explain everything you need to know to avoid receiving unwanted fines and act correctly when traveling in a motorhome or traveling in a camper van.
Driving a motorhome on public roads and highways
What you should know, in general, is that you will mainly be affected by the general traffic and vehicle regulations of each country when driving, parking and staying overnight in a motorhome.
In Spain, driving a motorhome on a road is generally governed by the Traffic and Vehicle Regulations that implement the Law on Traffic, Motor Vehicle Circulation and Road Safety. The new regulations, with some modifications to the previous ones, came into force on January 2, 2021. Within municipalities, there are also the municipal traffic and vehicle ordinances and regulations that have been approved (and these cannot contradict the previous general regulations).
Legal premise for driving a motorhome on the roads: You can drive like any other vehicle on any road that is not explicitly prohibited for reasons basically of environmental restrictions, vehicle size or weight: height (tunnels), length or width or the weight of your motorhome + or - 3500 kg or the age and environmental impacts of your vehicle.
They should never prohibit you from driving on a road or public road just for the mere fact of being a motorhome or camper, these regulations are discriminatory and reportable
There are interurban and urban roads that you will find that prohibit the passage of motorhomes through their streets explicitly and not because of the size of the vehicle or weight or environmental restriction. In that case, the prohibition in the municipal ordinance or regulation must be motivated by security reasons, but it may be a discriminatory regulation and could be illegal, so you could report it to the ombudsman of your autonomous community.
Speed limit for motorhomes and campers
You should know that motorhomes with an MMA of up to 3.500 kg can now circulate at the same speed as passenger cars and motorcycles. Of course, motorhomes of more than 3.500 kg have the same requirements and limits as trucks.
Most camper users still have the maximum speed as well as tourism. Now if they are adaptable mixed vehicles they will have to circulate up to 100 km / h and if they are classified as vans they cannot exceed 90 km / h.
Parking a motorhome or camper in Spain
First of all: differentiate the concepts of camping and parking a motorhome well
Differentiating these concepts well is key since in our country CAMPING IS PROHIBITED BY LAW IN ALL SPAIN, and parking is not generally prohibited.
Never ever camp outside of a private or public campground or RV park with specific camping permits.
CAMPING YOUR VEHICLE IS PROHIBITED IN ALL SPAIN
Generally, it is considered camping, and therefore it is prohibited and you may be fined if elements protrude from the perimeter of your vehicle.
Examples of things that you CANNOT do on public roads because it is considered CAMPING AND IS FORBIDDEN:
- Take chairs or tables out of the vehicle and eat outside of your vehicle.
- Shower outside the vehicle.
- Open windows
- Extend awnings or awnings.
- Put chocks
- Put stabilizing feet.
- Discharging fluids (clean, gray or black water) except those from the engine through the exhaust pipe.
- Take a step.
- Start an electric generator
- Make annoying noises (music, radio etc ...)
- And remove any item from your vehicle and leave it outside.
Parking a motorhome or camper on public roads
Now you know that parking is not camping and that you should never camp when you park on a public road, forest or anywhere that is not an area enabled for it.
What you should know, in general terms, about parking a motorhome or campervan, is that the ordinances and regulations of each municipality apply , as they are responsible for public roads within their jurisdiction. Therefore, you will find municipalities with designated parking areas and areas where parking your motorhome or campervan is prohibited.
On urban roads, the stopping and parking regime is regulated by municipal ordinance, although in no case can they oppose, alter, distort or lead to confusion with the precepts of the General Traffic Regulations.
Bearing in mind that the distribution of public car parks among all users must be equitable, motorhomes cannot be deprived of the right to park on public roads, as long as the stop or parking is not dangerous, it is executed in the manner and manner indicated, does not constitute a danger or an obstacle to traffic, the vehicle is positioned as indicated, and is also located in an authorized parking area.
Unfair bans on parking motorhomes or campers exist and are illegal
Therefore, the exclusion of motorhomes and campers from public roads must necessarily be motivated and based on objective reasons , such as the external dimensions of a vehicle or its maximum authorized mass , and not on its construction or use criteria, nor on subjective reasons.
In this sense, motorhomes can perform stopping and parking maneuvers under the same conditions and with the same limitations as any other vehicle, as long as they do not camp, remove any element from the perimeter of the vehicle (open windows, take out table or chairs, take out step, put chocks... This is prohibited throughout Spain).
This is the theory, but what we see is that in many municipalities we are limited to parking and parking motorhomes and campers due to the very fact of being a house with wheels and because they do not know how to differentiate the concepts of parking and camping, they think that we camp simply by parking without removing anything from our vehicle.
Defense mechanisms on discrimination in motorhome parking in a municipality that vetoes us for the mere fact of being campers
In these cases, our only defense is not to park so that we don't get fined, firstly, look for an area where there is no prohibition or leave the municipality and then report this discrimination to the Ombudsman of our autonomous community if we see that the ordinance does not legally justify the prohibition.
PDFs of DGT regulations on motorhomes
I leave you here the Instruction and explanation document of the DGT on motorhomes so that you can download it.
There are many motorhomes who take them in their motorhome in case a policeman prohibits you from parking in a place where there is no ordinance or explicit prohibition approved by a Local Government.
Download the DGT document on motorhomes here: GT-53-Mobility_Motorhomes
Download here the Instruction on motorhomes of the current DGT of 2023
Environmental restrictions applicable to the movement and parking of the motorhome or camper
Especially if you are going to drive a motorhome through big cities, keep in mind the environmental badges that you have to carry in your motorhome or camper.
To consult more information about the environmental mark in Spain go to:
http://www.dgt.es/
To know what environmental badges require you outside of Spain and even to buy the badges we look at it on the following website:
h ttps://www.green-zones.eu/es/
Coastal law: we cannot drive or park near the sea
The Coastal Law (article 33.5 ) also included in the General Traffic Regulations, prohibits parking and driving, as well as camping and camping within 20 meters of the beach in urban areas or 100 meters in rural areas , counted from the shoreline (the point where the water reaches its maximum level in storms or high tides).
Technology for motorhomes and campers that helps us know where to drive quietly
Traveling and driving a motorhome, sometimes, due to its height, width and length measurements, is not easy. It is the great fear of most people who start in this world.
Going through mountain roads or small towns that one does not know can become an adventure and even a feat to succeed.
Therefore, today, technology is the great ally of the motorhome.
It makes life easier for us to drive without fear and to drive a motorhome without problems.
GPS devices specifically designed for motorhomes or trucks are a great ally on the road when driving a motorhome.
Some GPS that we recommend are Sygic (which can work on mobile), Garmin or Tomtom. As long as these are the special ones for motorhomes or trucks.
We have the one from Garmin, of which we can speak very well after two years of using it.
The great thing about these GPS devices specifically designed for motorhomes or trucks is that you can input your vehicle's dimensions and it takes them into account when planning your route.
They really are a relief and avoid scares during the trip.
The greeting in a motorhome, the unwritten rule traveling in a motorhome or camper
We couldn't finish this article without mentioning a basic rule for the motorhome driver. Wherever you drive, remember the following:
We must say hello to any fellow motorhome or camper that you find on the road.
It is an unwritten, national and international law. It is a good practice to travel by motorhome and create this community of travelers of which we are part. Driving a motorhome is also a social event for us
The need for a specific Law for motorhomes
When it is for safety or size reasons, it is perfectly understood that they do not let us drive a motorhome there. But, there are some municipalities that prohibit it for much more elaborate reasons. Mainly, due to economic interests or lobbies that reign in the municipality that are contrary to motorhomes.
In this case, we're not in luck in Spain, as there's no clear law for motorhomes. There is a European Directive that obliges all European countries to treat a motorhome or campervan the same as any other vehicle, as long as it's not camping (leaving the vehicle's perimeter).
However, in Spain this has not yet been transposed into law, and therefore municipalities can approve ordinances or regulations against motorhomes, limiting their movement, parking , or overnight stays, and in many cases, fining us. Even for the simple act of parking in a place where we are not bothering anyone.
Platform with the Law in Hand
A few years ago, the Platform with the Law in Hand was created precisely to push for this objective: to draft a national law that explicitly recognizes us as any other vehicle. This association no longer exists, which is a shame. It argued that we should have the same legal rights to drive, park, and operate a motorhome as any other vehicle (as long as we don't camp, which we know is a different matter and subject to different legislation). This way, municipalities couldn't legislate against a national law.
But since there is still no law, it may be that there are municipalities that prohibit you from driving in a motorhome, in part or all of the municipality, for being a motorhome or camper.
In any case, if they fine you it is not illegal if they motivate it well in their ordinance, today. As long as the municipal ordinance or regulation that prohibits it is, approved by the Plenary of the City Council and motivated, it is legal.
Now, check the motivations, this is where the illegal aspects can be.
MOTORHOMES MANUAL
Click on each of the sections, to know everything and more about traveling by motorhome:
The platform with the law in hand does not represent anyone. In all the autonomies there are associations recognized for their autonomy as valid to propose and negotiate with the administrations. No one is needed more and less to those who come from saviors of motorhomes.
Thank you for your opinion and contribution José Luis. We take note 🙂
Hello I drive a motorhome since 2006 that I bought it
It was my dream and I was able to do it not without a lot of effort, cheap, of course, but it arrived
Those of us who like this world, I believe that we are not respected
It seems that we are weirdos for living in a small room
I have had to leave parked places putting a piece of paper in the cleaner at night, they don't have what it takes to give it to you either
It is a pity that we cannot choose where, how, and what to do with what you like, respecting each other
As soon as you leave the border into France it is another world for motorhomes
But I will continue living the world that I like to live
Greetings to all campers
I don't know if you make things very clear, but as far as the road traffic code is concerned, a motorhome is considered a car for all purposes, so it can park where any other car can, without prejudice to height limitations , width, length or weight that will be applied to all passenger cars and vehicles alike, without being able to discriminate against motorhomes as such, since this categorization does not exist in the Spanish road traffic code. Likewise, and as the law indicates, I can do whatever I want inside my vehicle, within the limits of the law, so since sleeping is not a crime, I can do it inside my motorhome or camper, while it is duly parked in a delimited place for the parking of any tourism (it is not necessary that the overnight stay is allowed since by law it already is). And since we are talking about higher-ranking laws since there are no higher-ranking laws, no municipal decree can contradict, annul or eliminate this law, so no municipal decree can prohibit you from spending the night in a public parking lot where you are properly parked . Another thing is that there are illegal decrees, which there are, and that there are rednecks who sanction you because they don't even know how to do their job, which there are also and unfortunately many. This is not an opinion, it is the law and it is the reality in Spain.
Hi Yomismo,
In this aspect, you should know, with a legal basis, that the jurisdiction of public roads is municipal, therefore, the use of public roads, including car parks that delimit the same municipalities, are municipal competence. The traffic law regulates circulation and there is no law that unfortunately establishes our equality with cars in the car park, it only says that we can park as long as it is not prohibited. Precisely what our fight should be to guarantee that total equality with passenger cars should be to have a law that guarantees our total equality with passenger cars, but I honestly see it as difficult because we know that we are not the same as a small vehicle, just like its impact, as much as it weighs me down as users that we are. You can see the current legality in motorhome and recommendations of the DGT always on its official page here https://www.dgt.es/muevete-con-seguridad/viaja-seguro/en-autocaravana/ . We have a lot of confusion in the sector, because of the fight we have. Thus, to clarify, the use of public roads is regulated by each City Council, in its ordinances and regulations. These ordinances can legally prohibit motorhome access or parking. However, these ordinances are only legal if they contain motivation as legally required to restrict rights by law 40/2015. For example, they have a clear justification that prioritizes safety and accessibility on public roads. In some cases, based on these ordinances, they are totally legal, you should know that, mate, despite the fact that it can weigh heavily on us. I am telling you this as a professor in the Department of Law and Political Science at the UOC that I am. Although, most of the ordinances made by the municipalities, lack sufficient motivation and therefore are many null, and sometimes fully-fledged, for infringing fundamental rights without motivation. The subject is very complicated. But this is the legal reality of our country and with which we have to fight on a daily basis. Each case is different, each council has to be seen and analyzed. Many put up the sign without an ordinance or regulation, which is directly illegal and the fine can be easily appealed without problem. Total legal maremagnum and particular cases in a very complicated country like ours that still has not been clearly determined in our sector model. This requires almost a thesis. A hug mate.