Traffic Ticket in Spain: Pay the DGT Fine or Appeal

A traffic ticket in Spain rarely shows up when you actually have time for it. Usually the DGT's letter lands in your mailbox after a speed camera catches you on the Ma-19 or the Via Cintura, and the question is immediate: pay or fight it? The answer hinges on a single deadline. Pay within 20 calendar days and you get half the fine waived, but you also give up your right to appeal. This article walks through the process from speed camera to formal notice, shows residents how to set up electronic delivery, and explains what happens if your car still carries foreign plates. The rules themselves, speed limits, points, and parking restrictions, are covered in the guide to traffic rules on Mallorca.

At a glance

You can pay a DGT fine with a 50 percent discount within 20 calendar days of delivery. Doing so means giving up your right to appeal. Appeal instead, and you lose the discount, paying the full amount if the appeal is rejected. Residents should sign up for the DEV, the DGT's electronic mailbox, or an undeliverable notice ends up posted on the official public notice board and the deadline runs out without you knowing. For foreign-registered vehicles, enforcement can be pursued through your home country's authorities once the fine passes a certain threshold.

What a DGT traffic ticket is

A traffic ticket in Spain is, in administrative terms, a "multa de tráfico": a fine notice issued by the Dirección General de Tráfico (DGT), a municipality, or the Guardia Civil after a traffic violation. It states the offense, the amount, any points deducted, and a case number, and it opens a 20 calendar day window to pay or appeal.

The first thing to check is always who sent it. On Mallorca, three bodies issue fines: the DGT for country roads and highways, the Ayuntamiento for city violations (in Palma, for example, parking offenses and the ORA zone), and the Guardia Civil for roadside stops. Payment and appeals always go through whichever body sent the notice. You can't pay a Palma parking ticket on the DGT's website, and it doesn't work the other way around either.

The DGT sorts violations into three tiers: minor offenses cost up to 100 EUR, serious ones 200 EUR, and very serious ones 500 EUR, sometimes with points deducted as well. Speeding has its own scale. In built-up areas with a 50 km/h limit, going up to 20 km/h over costs 100 EUR with no points, 21 to 30 km/h over costs 300 EUR and 2 points, and 31 to 40 km/h over costs 400 EUR and 4 points.

From speed camera to formal notice: how delivery works

A speed camera can't pull you over, so the DGT sends the notice to the registered owner instead. The standard route is a letter to the address on file in the vehicle registry. If the letter doesn't reach you, because you've moved or the postal carrier finds nobody home twice, the DGT publishes the notice on the Tablón Edictal Único (TEU), the official public notice board in the BOE. From the day it's published, the notice counts as delivered, and the 20-day clock starts.

This is where many residents get caught out. Anyone who moved, say from one town to another, without updating their car's registered address only finds out about the fine once the tax agency (Agencia Tributaria) enforces it with a 20 percent surcharge. The way around this is the Dirección Electrónica Vial (DEV), the DGT's electronic mailbox. For private individuals, signing up is optional; for companies, it's been mandatory since November 1, 2022. Once you're registered, you stop getting paper letters and instead get an email and text message telling you a notice is waiting.

Have a digital certificate or electronic ID ready

The DEV requires a digital certificate or an electronic national ID. Cl@ve alone is not enough for the mailbox.

Register on the Sede Electrónica

Under "Notificaciones electrónicas," register with your email and phone number. From that point on, the DEV is your only delivery channel.

Open the mailbox within 10 days

A notice stays open to read for 10 calendar days. After that it counts as refused, and the 20-day deadline starts regardless.

Check your spam folder and keep your details current

Notification emails often land in spam. Update a new phone number or email address in the DEV right away.

You can register on the DGT's Notificaciones electrónicas page. If you'd rather stick with paper letters, at least keep your registered address current. For how to handle a change of ownership or address, see the guide to re-registering a car on Mallorca.

Warning: a fine by email is a scam

The DGT never delivers fines by email, not even with a payment link. Genuine notices arrive by letter, through the DEV, or on the Tablón Edictal. Delete any email with a case number and a payment request.

20 days, 50 percent: pay or appeal

The math is simple. Pay within 20 calendar days of the day after delivery and you owe half; after that, the full amount. Paying with the discount counts as waiving any objections. File an appeal instead, and the discount is gone even if you end up paying later. There's no installment plan or deferral.

A real-world example: 300 EUR for going 25 km/h over the limit on the Ma-13. Pay within the deadline and it's 150 EUR. The points deduction still applies even with the discount. With a speed camera photo that clearly shows you, appealing almost never pays off. It's a different story if the notice has an error: wrong plate, wrong location, an offense on a day the car was in the shop, or a different driver you can name.

For a handful of offenses, the discount doesn't apply at all, including using a radar detector or jammer in the car and giving false information about the driver. The full list is on the DGT page Qué hacer si has recibido una multa.

You can pay in several ways:

Online at Pago de multas with the case number and delivery date, no certificate needed, by card or Bizum
In the miDGT app under "Mis multas," where you can also see any open cases
By phone at 060, or from abroad at +34 902 887 060
In cash at Caixabank ATMs and branches, or at Correos for a fee

What happens if I miss the 20 days? The case then proceeds as a "procedimiento ordinario." From delivery of the sanctioning decision, you have 45 days to pay the full amount. Appeals are no longer possible at this stage. After that, the Agencia Tributaria takes over enforcement with a 20 percent surcharge.

Filing an appeal

If you want to contest the fine, the form is called "alegaciones." The deadline is the same 20 calendar days. You can file it online under Alegación o recurso a una multa, or in person at the Jefatura de Tráfico in Palma. Attach anything that supports your version directly: a repair shop invoice, a rental agreement, photos of the location.

If the DGT rejects your objections, you'll receive a "resolución sancionadora." You can file a "recurso de reposición" against that within one month. If that fails too, the remaining route is the administrative court, which requires a lawyer and a procurador. For a 100 EUR fine, that's disproportionate; for 500 EUR and 6 points, it might make more sense.

One special case is naming the driver. If you weren't behind the wheel, you must report the actual driver within the 20 days via "Identificación del conductor" on the Sede Electrónica. If you, as the registered owner, don't do this, you'll face a separate fine on top, one that's often higher than the original offense.

Tip: check your own open fines

On the Sede Electrónica, you can use Cl@ve to see every open DGT case under your name, including the deadline and discounted amount. For municipal fines, say from Palma, you'll need to check that municipality's own website.

Foreign-registered cars: what your home country can enforce

Many people still driving on the island with foreign plates assume a DGT notice will never reach them at home. That's no longer true. Under EU cross-border data-sharing rules, the DGT can request the registered owner's details from your home country's vehicle registry and send the notice to your address there. The discount still applies the same way: 20 days, 50 percent off.

If you don't pay, Spain can request enforcement assistance from your home country. For drivers with a German-registered car, for instance, this goes through the Bundesamt für Justiz (Federal Office of Justice) in Bonn, which enforces fines from 70 EUR upward, provided the Spanish notice is final and you were informed of your right to appeal during the process. If you weren't the one driving, that objection has to be raised directly with that office; the details for German-registered vehicles are in the Bundesamt für Justiz FAQ. Other EU countries have comparable cross-border enforcement mechanisms for their own residents. A 100 EUR fine paid early costs you 50 EUR. The same fine, enforced back home, costs 100 EUR plus processing fees.

Something else can end up costing more than any speed camera. Anyone who lives on Mallorca long-term but keeps driving on foreign plates risks a fine for not re-registering the car at every roadside check, which can quickly dwarf the speeding fine itself. For the deadlines involved and when the Guardia Civil tends to look closer, see the guide to driving on Mallorca with a foreign-registered car.

Bottom line

A traffic ticket in Spain isn't a reason to panic, but it is a reason to put a date in your calendar. 20 calendar days, 50 percent off, no objections: that's the DGT's deal, and with a clear speed camera photo it's almost always the cheapest way out. Appealing makes sense when the notice has an error or someone else was driving, but only with evidence and within the deadline. If you live on the island, do two things right away: check that your address is current in the DGT registry, and sign up for the DEV. Both take about half an hour and stop a notice from running its course on the Tablón Edictal while you know nothing about it. For the violations most commonly ticketed on the island, see the guide to traffic rules on Mallorca.