Spain on an Italian Licence — No IDP, but Watch the Average-Speed Cameras

Of all the places an Italian might drive abroad, Spain is among the most straightforward. You drive on the right, the alcohol limit is the same 0.05 you know at home, signage and road manners feel familiar, and Spain’s roads are rated easy — good motorways and relaxed driving once you leave the cities. The paperwork barely registers.

No permit, no translation. As an EU licence holder, your Italian licence is fully valid in Spain. There is no International Driving Permit to buy and nothing to certify — carry your licence and passport and you are set. If you want to double-check the rule for your situation, the Driving Permit Checker confirms it in seconds.

The one genuine catch is enforcement. Spain runs one of Europe’s densest camera networks, including average-speed sections that measure you over a whole stretch rather than at a single point — the kind of thing that quietly catches drivers who treat the limit as a guideline. Motorways cap at 120 km/h, ten below the 130 you have on the Autostrade, with 50 in towns and 90 on rural roads. Around 10 km/h over typically costs about EUR 100, often issued on the spot, so carry a card or cash. Work out any penalty with the Speeding Fine Calculator.

Spanish cars must carry a warning triangle and reflective vest — keep the vest within reach inside the cabin, not the boot, since you are meant to put it on before stepping out on a motorway. Petrol is around $1.70/litre, the emergency number is 112, and the full rules sit on the Spain driving guide. For an Italian driver, this is about as easy as a foreign road trip gets.