Road-Safety Offence: From the Alcohol Test to the Fast-Track Trial

Most drink-driving cases in Spain are resolved within days, through a fast-track trial and a guilty plea. That speed is precisely the problem: a criminal conviction — with a criminal record — gets signed off before anyone has checked whether the evidence was even valid.

Where the fine ends and the offence begins

Driving after drinking can be either an administrative infringement or a criminal offence. The line is drawn by Article 379.2 of the Spanish Criminal Code (Código Penal), which punishes anyone who drives a motor vehicle or moped under the influence of alcoholic drinks and, in any event, anyone who does so with a breath alcohol level above 0.60 milligrams per litre or a blood alcohol level above 1.2 grams per litre.

The same provision covers two distinct scenarios, and confusing them is a common mistake:

• Exceeding the objective rate. Once those limits are passed, it is a criminal offence — there is no need to prove that driving was actually affected.
• Driving under the influence without exceeding them. Here the prosecution does have to prove that the driver's faculties were genuinely impaired: the manner of driving, the external signs observed by officers, the results of coordination tests.

Below those thresholds, and without proven impairment, this is an administrative matter: a fine and a deduction of points, not a criminal record.

The penalties under the Criminal Code

Article 379 provides, as alternatives, imprisonment of three to six months, a fine of six to twelve months, or thirty-one to ninety days of community service. In every case, the court must also impose — cumulatively — disqualification from driving motor vehicles and mopeds for a period of more than one year and up to four years.

Two consequences that are often overlooked:

• The driving ban cannot be substituted: it always accompanies the main penalty, whichever one is chosen.
• If the disqualification exceeds two years, the driving licence also loses its validity, meaning the driver must sit the test again to get it back.

Refusing the test is a separate offence

Refusing to take the legally established alcohol screening tests is not a way of avoiding the problem: it constitutes a standalone criminal offence, punished under Article 383 of the Criminal Code by six months to one year in prison and disqualification from driving for one to four years.

In other words, refusal carries a heavier prison sentence than driving with an excessive alcohol level itself. It is one of the worst-calculated decisions people make at a checkpoint.

The fast-track trial and pleading guilty

These cases are usually handled through the fast-track trial procedure (juicio rápido): a police report, referral to the duty court, and a hearing within just a few days. At that hearing, the defendant is offered the chance to plead guilty (conformidad), with a one-third reduction of the requested sentence for anyone who accepts at that procedural stage.

The reduction is real, and sometimes it is the right call. But pleading guilty means accepting a criminal conviction with a criminal record, and that decision gets made with the police report just skimmed, in a courthouse corridor, often with a lawyer who has seen the case for the first time twenty minutes earlier.

Pleading guilty can be the best option. Pleading guilty without having read the police report never is.

What can be challenged

Before accepting anything, there are elements worth reviewing that are frequently overlooked:

• The chain of custody of the evidence. The breathalyser must be calibrated and certified, and its periodic verifications must be on record.
• The device's margin of error, which can be decisive when the reading sits very close to the criminal threshold.
• The interval between the two measurements, and whether the driver was informed of the right to have the result confirmed by a blood test.
• Whether the suspect was properly informed of their rights, and how the test itself was carried out.
• The external signs described in the police report, when the charge is driving under the influence without exceeding the legal rates.

There isn't always something to challenge. But knowing whether there is requires reading the police report, and that takes more than twenty minutes.

What happens after a conviction

A conviction for a road-safety offence creates a criminal record, which remains on file until it is cancelled once the legal time limits have passed from the date the sentence was served. In the meantime, it can show up on certificates required for certain jobs, licences, or immigration procedures.

On top of that comes the effect on insurance and, if the driving ban exceeds two years, the need to retake the driving test. It is worth having all of this in view before signing the guilty plea, not after.

The fast-track trial in Las Palmas

These proceedings are handled by the duty court (juzgado de guardia) of the relevant judicial district. In the capital, that means the Ciudad de la Justicia in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria; outside it, the court of the municipality where the checkpoint took place.

There is an island-specific factor that weighs more heavily than it might seem: on an island, losing your driving licence has an impact on daily life and employment that isn't always factored in when deciding whether to plead guilty. It is worth weighing that before signing, not after.

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Notice: this article is for general information purposes and reflects the law in force on its publication date. It is not legal or tax advice for any specific case. Before making any decision, consult a professional.