New standard to be respected by motorists who travel to Spain on January 1, 2026. They must be equipped with a rotating beacon to place on the roof of the car in the event of a breakdown or accident. This is a beacon named V-16. Explanations.
The essentials of the day: our exclusive selection
Every day, our editorial team reserves the best regional news for you. A selection just for you, to stay in touch with your regions.
France Télévisions uses your email address to send you the newsletter “Today’s essentials: our exclusive selection”. You can unsubscribe at any time via the link at the bottom of this newsletter. Our privacy policy
Spain imposes new rules on motorists, including those coming from abroad. From January 1, 2026, even if you have the emergency warning triangles on board to signal that your vehicle has broken down or been involved in an accident, you will be likely to be fined. You will, in fact, need to equip yourself of a V-16 devicea luminous and connected beacon, supposed to improve road safety.
This rotating beacon emits a yellow light visible up to a kilometer away, according to our colleagues from La Semaine du Roussillon who noted the information. According to the DGT (Spanish General Directorate of Traffic), this equipment makes it possible to better identify vehicles stopped at the side of the road in the dark or in dense fog. Another strong point according to the Spanish authorities: it contains a geolocation system which sends the position of the vehicle to its platform.
The V-16 costs 40 euros. It runs on batteries so you need to check its proper functioning regularly, ensure that it is connected to the DGT3.0 platform and bears the label that proves its compliance with Spanish regulations. The Spanish transport service publishes a list of compliant products on its website. Does this system send other information to the DGT, that is the question we can ask ourselves.
Whatever the nationality of the driver, they will face a €200 fine if they do not have this device on board from the start of next year. Spain is currently the only country in Europe to recommend, and soon to impose, its use.
- -
