Crime or fine: the dual system of article 379.2 CP
In Spain, drunk driving straddles two worlds: the administrative one, governed by the Traffic Act and the General Traffic Regulation, and the criminal one, concentrated in article 379.2 of the Criminal Code (CP). That provision punishes two distinct behaviours. The first is driving a motor vehicle or moped under the influence of alcoholic beverages: here the decisive element is not the figure, but whether alcohol actually impaired the driver. The second is the objective rate: the provision orders a conviction "in every case" for whoever drives with a breath alcohol rate above 0.60 milligrams per litre or a blood alcohol rate above 1.2 grams per litre, with no need to prove any influence.
That dual system produces the three bands this tool analyses: above 0.60 mg/l in air, an offence in every case; between the administrative limit and 0.60 mg/l, a certain administrative fine and an offence only if influence is proven; below the administrative limit, in principle neither an offence nor a fine by rate.
The objective rate: above 0.60 mg/l in air (1.2 g/l in blood)
When the breathalyser shows more than 0.60 mg/l of exhaled air, the offence is committed by the figure alone. The penalties are those of article 379.1 CP, to which paragraph 2 refers: imprisonment of three to six months, or a fine of six to twelve months, or community service of thirty-one to ninety days — the judge imposes one of the three — and, in every case, deprivation of the right to drive motor vehicles and mopeds for a period exceeding one year and up to four years. Note the legal wording: "exceeding one" means the minimum is not one year but more than one year; in practice, one year and one day. The driving ban is not an alternative: it is a joint main penalty, always imposed together with whichever of the other three is chosen.
The equivalence between the two units used by the provision is a factor of two: 0.60 mg/l of alcohol in exhaled air corresponds to 1.2 g/l of alcohol in blood. That is why this tool automatically converts the breathalyser figure into its blood equivalent and vice versa.
The intermediate band: driving under the influence
Between the administrative limit and 0.60 mg/l there is no automatic offence. In that band the administrative fine is certain, but there will only be a criminal offence if the prosecution proves that the driver was under the influence of alcohol: external signs recorded in the police report (slurred speech, unsteady walking, glassy eyes), erratic maneuvers, drifting into the opposite lane, or an accident combined with the positive test. The defence in this band focuses on dismantling that proof of influence: if the driver parked correctly, held a coherent conversation and caused no incident, the rate alone is not enough to convict.
The administrative limits in force and the reform that was not passed
The general administrative limits remain, as of today, 0.25 mg/l of exhaled air(0.5 g/l in blood) for drivers in general and 0.15 mg/l (0.3 g/l in blood) for novice drivers — licence held for under two years — and professional drivers. Under-age drivers are subject to a zero rate. During 2025 and 2026 a bill was processed to lower the general limit to 0.2 g/l in blood (0.10 mg/l in air), but it was rejected by the Interior Committee of the Spanish Congress on 18 March 2026, so the limits have not changed. A new bill with the same figure (file 122/000300) was tabled in September 2026 and taken into consideration by the plenary on 29 September 2026, but is still going through Parliament: unless it is passed and published in the BOE, nothing changes. As this matter may be reformed at any time, always check the limits and penalties in force on the official DGT website. Exceeding the administrative limit without reaching the criminal threshold is punished with a fine — as guidance, 500 euros, raised to 1,000 when the rate is more than twice the permitted limit or the driver was already fined for alcohol in the previous year — and the loss of 4 or 6 points.
How the test is carried out: two measurements, margin of error and contrast analysis
The second test ten minutes later
The procedure requires two measurements separated by a minimum interval of ten minutes. The wait is not arbitrary: it helps rule out so-called "mouth alcohol" — traces of a very recent drink, a mouthwash or a medicine that inflate the first reading — and allows the consistency of both measurements to be compared. The driver is also entitled to request a contrast blood test. Significant differences between the two readings, the lack of the required interval, or the failure to offer the contrast analysis are defects the defence always examines.
The metrological margin of error
Evidential breathalysers are subject to metrological control (Order ICT/155/2020): they must pass an initial verification, periodic verifications and a new verification after every repair. They also carry a recognised maximum permissible error which, for devices in service, can reach approximately 7.5%. The practical consequence is huge when the rate is close to the threshold: a reading of 0.63 mg/l, corrected with the margin, may fall below 0.60 and rule out the objective-rate offence. That is why, with borderline rates, examining the device verification certificates is one of the first steps of the defence.
Refusing to blow is a separate offence (art. 383 CP)
Refusing to undergo the detection tests when required by a police officer does not avoid the problem: it is a separate offence under article 383 CP, punished with imprisonment of six months to one year and deprivation of the right to drive for a period exceeding one year and up to four years. Note that the prison term provided is harsher than that of the positive test itself, and the refusal may be punished together with the drunk-driving offence if the latter is proven by other means.
How it is processed in practice: fast trial and plea agreement
The vast majority of criminal drunk-driving cases are processed as fast trials(arts. 795 ff. of the Spanish Criminal Procedure Act, LECrim): within days the driver appears before the duty judge. If a plea agreement is entered before that court, article 801 LECrim orders the imposition of the penalty requested by the prosecutor reduced by one third. That is why many cases end with a reduced fine or community service plus the corresponding driving ban. However, pleading means waiving the chance to challenge the evidence — the metrological margins, the second measurement, the signs described in the police report — so the decision should always be taken with the advice of a criminal defence lawyer who has examined the full case file.
This tool deliberately does not include any estimator of the rate based on drinks consumed: such calculations depend on too many individual variables (weight, sex, metabolism, elapsed time) and create a false sense of security. The only reliable reference is the breathalyser measurement or the blood test.