It is not uncommon to be stopped by the Guardia Civil, or the police for that matter, whether for a routine checkpoint, or for an infraction, but in summer there is often an increase in checks, so the chance of getting stopped is greater.
It is not necessarily anything to worry about, but it is useful if we know how to act.
Never stop abruptly
If when you are driving your vehicle on the road, if you notice that a Guardia Civil vehicle is ahead of you and turns on a red light together with the priority blue lights, you must stop the car.
Don’t do it instantly and abruptly. Instead, do it in a relaxed way, reducing the speed at which you are driving and stopping the vehicle in a safe, convenient and legal place on the road. You should always stop your vehicle on the right side of the road.
Do not get out of the car
Once your vehicle is stopped safely, do not get out, unless the officer asks you to.
By stopping on the road, you expose yourself to invading a traffic lane if you leave the vehicle. Other vehicles can circulate in that lane, which are forced to dodge and you expose yourself to an accident.
The officer will approach your vehicle
The officer will approach your vehicle, normally on the right-hand side, away from traffic, and will tell you the reason you have been stopped.
Be careful resuming your journey
Once the stop has been concluded, after you have been dealt with, do not hurry away. The officer will advise you when to continue and will assist you in joining the flow of traffic.
Why you might be stopped
The Guardia Civil, and the police, can stop you for various reasons. Among them to notify you of having committed an infraction, or to carry out a preventive control such as at a checkpoint. You must always comply with the orders that the agent may give you.
If it is a checkpoint, they may have a sign to assist them, a red circle with a horizontal black line, sometimes containing text. If you see this sign, you must not pass it without stopping.
The documents you may have to present
You as an individual must carry your personal identity document, as will as your driving licence. If you are not carrying your licence, you may find yourself arrested, as driving without a licence is a criminal offence, and the onus is on you to prove you have a right to drive.
In addition, in your vehicle, you must also carry the up-to-date Vehicle Technical Inspection, la tarjeta de la Inspección Técnica del Vehículo (ITV) card, the most recent ITV report, and you must display the ITV sticker on the upper right-hand corner of your windscreen.
If you drive with an expired ITV, the fine is 200 euro. If you have a “Desfavorable” ITV report, you have a period of two months to repair defects and return to the ITV inspection, or the penalty is 200 euro.
If your test report is “Negativa”, your failure was so serious that you expose yourself to a fine of 500 euro.
You must also carry your vehicle´s logbook, the permiso de circulación.
Driving without carrying your driver’s license is considered a minor infraction, whose penalty can reach 100 euro. In the same way, it can be punishable, as a minor infraction and with a fine of up to 100 euro if you do not have the vehicle’s documents.
And it never hurts to remember that we must always carry the reflective vest in our vehicle, which we must always wear in case of abandoning the vehicle due to a breakdown or if the Guardia Civil agent tells us that we must leave the vehicle at the roadside.
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