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DRIVING

Spanish driving licence: the essential language to pass your practical test

Understanding what your driving instructor is saying to you in Spanish will be crucial if you want to pass your practical test. 

Published: 8 March 2021 18:21 CET
Updated: 26 March 2024 09:04 CET
Spanish driving licence: the essential language to pass your practical test
Photo: Orkun Azap/Unsplash.

Getting a driving licence in Spain (sacarse el carné de conducir en España) can be a fairly challenging task for foreigners. 

There’s having to memorise Spain’s specific road laws, the big difference in prices between driving schools depending on where you are and, last but not least, understanding Spain’s driving lingo.

Although Spain’s Directorate General for Traffic (DGT) does offer the possibility of taking your theory exam in English, French and German, the practical driving exam has to be carried out in Spanish. 

There are some specialised driving schools (autoescuelas in Spanish) that have instructors who can offer practical lessons in English, but when it comes to actually sitting at the wheel with the DGT examiner in the back seat, it’s almost certainly all going to be in Spanish. 

With this in mind, we’re going to revise the most common instructions that you’re likely to receive from your driving instructor while you’re practising driving, and during your final examen práctico with the examiner.

To keep it as real as possible, all the Spanish verbs we’ll use will be in the imperative form, as that’s what you’re most likely to hear from your instructor. 

We’ve mixed up these with the useful vocab you’re likely to hear to put it all in context, so pay special attention to each part of the sentence.

The basics

Acelera : Speed up

Frena : Brake 

Reduce la velocidad : Reduce your speed

Detente/Para : Stop

Pisa el embrague : Step on the clutch 

Important extras

Ponte el cinturón (de seguridad) : Put on your seatbelt

Asegúrate que tienes bien colocados los retrovisores : Make sure your rearview mirrors are correctly positioned

Getting going

Arranca el coche : turn on the car

Pon las luces cortas/largas : Put on your headlights/brights

Pon el intermitente : Put on your indicator

Gira el volante a la izquierda/derecha : Turn the steering wheel to the left/right

El semáforo está en verde/en rojo/en ámbar : The traffic light is green, red, yellow

Gears

Mete primera, segunda, tercera, cuarta, quinta marcha : Go into first, second, third, fourth, fifth gear

Mete la palanca de cambio en punto muerto : Put the gearbox in neutral

Parking 

Da marcha atrás : Reverse 

Pon las luces de emergencia : Put on your emergency lights

Aparca en batería, en línea o en paralelo : Park at an angle, in line, parallel park

Pon/Quita el freno de mano : Pull up/down the handbrake 

Turning and moving around

Circula por esta carretera de sentido único : Drive along this one-way road 

Cede el paso : Give way

Adelanta a la furgoneta : Overtake the van

Incorpórate a la autopista/la rotonda : Merge onto the motorway/roundabout 

Acuérdate que es una carretera de sentido único/dos sentidos : Remember it’s a one-way/two-way road 

Toma la primera/segunda/tercera salida : Take the first/second/third exit

Échale un vistazo al punto ciego : Check your blind spot 

Mira por el retrovisor : Look through the rearview mirror

Cambia de carril : Change lane

Métete por el carril de dentro/fuera : Take the inside/outside lane

Toma la siguiente salida : Take the next exit

Precautions

No superes el límite de velocidad : Don’t go over the speed limit

Ten cuidado con la curva : Be careful with the turn

Deja pasar al peatón en el paso de cebra : Let the pedestrian cross at the zebra crossing

Asegúrate que no vienen coches en el cruce : Make sure there’s no oncoming traffic at the crossing  

And a couple of extra ones

Toca el claxon/la bocina : Honk your horn

Pon el limpiaparabrisas : Put on the windshield wipers

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For members

LEGAL HELP

Noisy local fiestas: What to do when your Spanish town hall is responsible

Town and city fiestas are commonplace in Spain and they’re part of what made many of us fall in love with the country in the first place, but sometimes the town hall can overstep and the noise pollution just gets too much to bear for neighbours.

Published: 22 May 2024 09:35 CEST
Noisy local fiestas: What to do when your Spanish town hall is responsible

It’s bad enough in Spain when you have to deal with noisy neighbours or loud bars and clubs, but what about when the culprit is your ayuntamiento (town hall) or city council?

If you want to know what your rights are on noise from construction, find out here, what to do about noisy neighbours here and about bars and clubs here. 

During these local fiestas (every city, town and village has at least one a year), councils set up concert and performance venues form of open-air stages or tents called casetas or carpas.

In these cases, there’s often no sound insulation and the noise carries much further as everything happens outside.

Even though these festivals may only go one for a week or two, they can often disturb residents who aren’t in attendance and are trying to sleep.

You could be someone who needs extra sleep like a doctor, nurse or firefighter, you may be ill or have small children, there are many reasons why you might not be able or want to join in. Even if you are in the minority, your rights should still be respected.

In fact, in places such as Barcelona, when the local Gràcia festival takes place, there’s so much noise created by neighbourhood organisers that some people even decide to leave their apartments for the week as they know they won’t be able to sleep.

This option is of course not open to everyone, and in truth, you shouldn’t have to leave your home temporarily because of a celebration that is supposed to bring joy to the local population.

So, what can you legally do and what are your rights?

Even city and town councils must continue to comply with municipal by-laws during local fiestas. The Spanish Civil Code guarantees that you should have respect in your own home.

Law 40/2015, of October 1st, on the Legal Regime of the Public Sector, which came into force in October 2016, establishes that “Public Administrations objectively serve the general interests and act in accordance with the principles of effectiveness, hierarchy, decentralisation and coordination, with full submission to the Constitution and the Law”. 

This means that even the authorities must uphold the law and serve their people. They have a public responsibility to manage and to do it to the best of their abilities.

The first thing to keep in mind is that you stand a much better chance of getting your council to listen if you find other people who are affected too, so it’s not just you complaining on your own.

Make sure to talk to your neighbours or others living on the same street to find out if they’re also affected by the noise and form a group of people who share your grievances.

In theory, councils and ayuntamientos are in charge of enforcing celebration schedules, making sure the volume of music isn’t too loud, controlling the capacity at venues and enforcing alcohol laws so that people are not drinking on the street (if it’s not allowed in that region).

READ ALSO – FACT CHECK: No, Spain’s Balearics haven’t banned tourists from drinking alcohol

According to Law 7/2002 on protection against noise pollution, these are the maximum sound levels allowed for leisure venues:

Nightclubs: 104 decibels

Venues with musical entertainment: 90 decibels

Game rooms: 85 decibels

Bars and restaurants: 80 decibels

Find out if the festival events and activities infringe on any of these rules and regulations above and if they do then you have a case to take to your town hall.

Technically, the festivals should take place at a local fairground or somewhere away from the main residential area, but we know that this is not always the case. The concerts and events often happen in the very streets and squares where people live.

Firstly, you need to contact your ayuntamiento or local council or explain the problem. It’s best if you put it in writing so there’s a record of what you’ve said.

Try to include as much evidence as possible as to how the festivals are breaking the rules and include testimonials from as many neighbours as you can.

Organisers may not listen to you the first time, but if you keep contacting them, they will be forced to listen and have to respond.

If the situation is the same every year and they still don’t change anything, then you and your neighbours should contact a lawyer to represent you and take the matter to court.

This has actually been done several times by different communities throughout the country and in many instances, the law has sided with the people instead of the authorities.

In 2017, the Superior Court of Justice of Navarra, sided with a community of owners in Mutilva Baja when they complained about noise coming from an outdoor tent which had been erected for the festivities of the local patron saint. They claimed it was noise pollution above the legal levels and said the council had done nothing to try and reduce it.  

In another case in Getafe, thanks to a neighbourhood protest led by a lawyer specialising in noise pollution called Ricardo Ayala, the carnival celebrations were moved to the fairgrounds on the outskirts of the city.

Again in 2022, in Castilla-La Mancha, the Supreme Justice Tribunal imposed a sentence on the the Puerto Lápice City Council due to damages derived from noise pollution from musical events held in the town square.

The celebrations were not forced to be stopped completely but the council did have to agree with a limitation on hours and noise levels specifically for the concerts held in tents outside. It did not affect any other part of the festival.

Therefore, it is possible to take legal action against your ayuntamiento if they are breaking the law, but there’s no guarantee it will be a straightforward process.

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