The short answer: from the day after you are notified of the fine, you have twenty calendar days to choose. Either you pay with a 50% discount and that is the end of it, or you file a defence (alegaciones) and give up the discount. If you contest it and are still fined, you can file an administrative appeal within one month and then go to court. Appealing is worth it when there is a specific flaw you can prove. If the fine just feels unfair, the discount usually works out better.
In this article
Who fined you, and why it matters
In Valencia two authorities can fine you, and both apply the same law: the Spanish Traffic and Road Safety Act (Royal Legislative Decree 6/2015).
- The DGT (the national traffic authority), on roads outside towns and on through roads. The fine is issued by the Provincial Head of Traffic where it happened (article 84.1). Fixed camera fines usually come from the Automated Offence Processing Centre, which handles them by delegation (article 84.2).
- Valencia City Council, inside the city. On urban streets the mayor, or whoever the mayor delegates to, imposes the fine (article 84.4). This covers the Local Police, the ORA paid parking zones and municipal speed cameras.
DGT fines are handled on its online office (sede electrónica) or the miDGT app, where you can pay, name the driver and file defences and appeals. Municipal fines go to the City Council.
The twenty days: pay at a discount or contest
Once you are notified, you have twenty calendar days to pay at the reduced rate or to file a defence and propose evidence (article 93.1). Weekends and holidays count.
If you pay within that window, the fast-track procedure applies, and article 94 sets out exactly what follows:
- The fine is cut in half.
- You give up your defence. Anything already filed is treated as not filed.
- The case closes on the day you pay, with no formal decision.
- The penalty becomes final. The only option left is the administrative courts, within two months from the day after payment (article 94 of the Traffic Act and article 46.1 of Law 29/1998).
What paying does not save you is points. Your licence loses points for every penalty that becomes final in the administrative route for an offence that carries them (article 64.1), and paying makes the penalty final there and then. Paying at a discount means accepting the fine and the points.
If you were not driving: naming the driver
When you were not stopped (speed camera, photo, parked car), the fine goes to the registered keeper. If someone else was driving, you also have twenty calendar days to name them, giving their licence number (articles 11.1 and 93.1).
Failing to name the driver, or naming the wrong person, is a separate very serious offence (article 77.j). The fine is double the original if that was minor and triple if it was serious or very serious (article 80.2.b).
Sold the car and the buyer never registered it? The fines keep coming to you. How to get out of it: I sold my car and the buyer has not transferred it. How to avoid it: notifying the DGT of a vehicle sale.
The appeal steps, in order
1. Your defence, within the twenty days
This is what counts. Explain why the fine should not stand and provide or request evidence: photos, the speed camera certificate, witnesses. Hold nothing back: a later appeal ignores facts and documents you could have provided earlier (article 96.4).
If you neither pay nor contest, in many cases the notice itself becomes the penalty and can be enforced thirty calendar days after notification (article 95.4).
2. Administrative appeal (recurso de reposición), within one month
You can appeal the decision within one month from the day after notification, to the body that issued it (article 96.2). It is optional: you can go straight to court. It does not stop collection (article 96.3), and if there is no answer within a month it counts as rejected (article 96.5). The same applies to City Council fines (article 96.6).
3. The administrative courts
You have two months from the day after notification of the decision that closes the administrative route, or of the decision on your appeal (article 46 of Law 29/1998). They go to the Administrative Courts (Juzgados de lo Contencioso-administrativo) under the simplified procedure (articles 8 and 78), and you need a lawyer (article 23). And if you lose outright, you will normally pay the authority's legal costs, capped at one third of the amount at stake (article 139).
When an appeal is worth it
- Errors in the notice. It must identify the vehicle, describe the offence with place, date and time, and identify the officer by their service number (article 87.2).
- It was not you and you can prove it. The car had already been sold, was stolen or was at the garage.
- Weak evidence. An officer's report counts as proof unless shown otherwise, and the officer must provide all the evidence available (article 88).
- Speed camera not calibrated. Measuring devices are subject to legal metrology control (article 83.2), and speed cameras must pass a periodic check every year (Order ICT/155/2020, annex XII, section 5). Ask for the certificate valid on the date of the fine.
- Faulty notification. Without a DEV (the DGT's electronic mailbox), the letter goes to your address on DGT records. If nobody is in, it must be tried again within three days, and only then published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) (article 90.3). We cover it in fines that never reach you and the official notice board.
When it is not worth it
If the facts are true and there is no specific flaw, contesting usually backfires: you lose the 50% and pay in full. Going to court over a small sum without a clear argument is not worth the risk of costs either. The fights worth having are fines with points, especially if they leave you close to losing your licence.
Time limits: when the clock works for you
- Limitation of the offence: three months for minor offences and six months for serious and very serious ones, counted from the day of the facts (article 112.1). Notification of the fine interrupts it, but the clock restarts if the case stalls for more than a month for reasons that are not yours (article 112.2).
- Expiry of the procedure: if a year goes by from the start without a decision imposing the fine, the case lapses and is closed (article 112.3).
- Limitation of a final fine: four years (article 112.4).
The law still provides for a Traffic Penalties Notice Board (article 92), but the lookup the DGT offers today is the BOE's Single Edictal Board (Tablón Edictal Único).
Common mistakes
- Not naming the driver because it was not you. That triggers a second, more expensive fine.
- Ignoring the DEV. If you do not open a notice within ten calendar days, it counts as refused and the case moves on (article 90.2).
- Letting it become final without paying. You get fifteen calendar days, then enforced collection with a surcharge (article 110.1).
When to get help
When the fine carries points and your balance is low, when you were not driving, when you think the notification went wrong, or when your defence has been rejected. A look at the file before the discount window closes tells you whether to appeal or pay.
Frequently asked questions
How long do I have to appeal a traffic fine in Spain?
Twenty calendar days from the day after notification to file a defence. If you are fined anyway, one month for the administrative appeal and two months to go to the administrative courts.
If I pay at a discount, can I appeal later?
Not through the administrative route: you give up your defence and the penalty becomes final. Your only option is the administrative courts, within two months from the day after payment (article 94).
Does paying the fine stop me losing points?
No. Paying makes the penalty final, and points are deducted for every final penalty that carries them (article 64). To keep them you have to contest the fine and win.
What happens if I do not name the driver?
You commit a separate very serious offence (article 77.j), with a fine of double the original if it was minor and triple if it was serious or very serious, and no early payment discount (article 93.2).
When does a traffic fine expire?
The offence is time-barred after three months if minor and six months if serious or very serious, although notification interrupts the clock. The procedure lapses if a year passes without a decision (article 112).