Driving in spain, a few observations.

After living in spain for a year now it seems like the right time to collect a few thoughts on Spanish life, so here's the first in an occasional series of observations, tips and live-or-die survival tactics for life on the peninsula.

Firstly, I'd like to address driving, a national obsession. A few years ago most Spaniards were content to pop down to the shops in a leisurely fashion on one of these:



However, things have changed enormously in the last few years (in the cities at least). The new aspiration is to own one of these, or something similar, as soon as possible after your eleventh birthday:



After about six months of driving in Spain however, it's more socially acceptable to be seen driving one of these:



Under normal driving conditions about six months would normally be required to achieve this, although at an average speed in town a particularly experienced driver might be able to achieve a similar result in something under six minutes.

The average family of twelve would be expected to own upwards of twenty vehicles for day to day use, and even more if any of them are in full time employment. Parking is rarely an issue in most town apartments, which all enjoy adequate garage facilities:



Street parking is usually plentiful, and double parking (or 'green' parking as it is more commonly known) has been adopted by the busiest town councils as an efficient and environmentally friendly solution to urban space planning issues. Green parking has almost completely solved the problem of how to get from your car seat to the shops whilst expending as little energy as possible:



For those less experienced in parking a good option would be the SMART car, which is much easier to find a space for in the more crowded urban environments:



An interesting fact, to me at least, is that parking is the third biggest participant sport in Spain - behind overtaking in second place, and smoking in first. In terms of safety, parking appears to be the safest sport of the three, with only 3.489 participant deaths recorded in 2006.

As a new driver in Spain you may find that the rules and customs regarding traffic lights are slightly different to those in your home country. In general, roundabouts are very well provisioned with traffic lights and should not present too much of a learning curve:




It is however worth paying attention to certain differences in usage for traffic lights positioned at road junctions. In a recent poll, conducted amongst experienced motorists, researchers asked the following question: 'What is the purpose of the red lights positioned in various places around your town/city?' - 4% of motorists responded 'don't know' and 96% of motorists responded 'to show you where another road starts if you can't see around the parked cars'. When asked what the green lights were for 100% of motorists polled responded 'err.. same as the red ones?'

To sum up, if you are a driver accustomed to the sort of driving restrictions imposed in many parts of the world you will love driving in Spain. There are no speed limits, no legal penalties for driving 'a tu manera', and best of all, the use of cocaine at the wheel is positively encouraged as the most efficient way of developing advanced driving skills.

So let's go for a drive!