Spain: traffic regulation reform takes effect today, with a mandatory emergency lane

From today, 1 October 2026, Spain’s Royal Decree 518/2026, of 24 June, reforming the General Traffic Regulation, takes effect. Two changes directly affect anyone driving heavy goods vehicles or coaches in Spain.

Mandatory emergency lane

For the first time, Spanish law requires drivers to leave an “emergency lane” on motorways and dual carriageways whenever traffic stops or crawls — not only once sirens are already heard, but pre-emptively. On roads with two lanes per direction, the lane forms between them; with three or more, it sits between the leftmost lane and the next one.

For heavy-vehicle drivers, this means staying as close as possible to their own side’s edge as soon as traffic jams up, without entering the lane or letting other vehicles do so. Official fine amounts are not yet confirmed; the Spanish press expects fines starting at €200 for serious offences.

New rule for overtaking cyclists

Outside built-up areas, anyone overtaking a cyclist, pedestrian, moped or personal mobility vehicle must now reduce speed by at least 20 km/h below the road’s limit — before starting the manoeuvre and throughout it — while keeping the existing minimum 1.5-metre lateral distance. On roads with more than one lane per direction, overtaking requires a full lane change.

The rule weighs particularly on single-lane national roads crossing inland Spain, which carry much of the heavy traffic between Portugal and the rest of Europe — cutting speed by 20 km/h several times while passing a group of cyclists can noticeably lengthen a trip.

The rest of the reform

The same decree makes seatbelts mandatory without exception for taxis, urban delivery and driving schools — a change already reported here on 26 September — and adds rules for e-scooters, motorcyclists and motorhomes with no direct impact on professional freight or passenger transport.