Spanish Traffic Laws
Just read about a change in Spanish traffic law on a forum I follow. Primarily a big reduction in urban speed limits. A number of other things one of which is replacement of warning triangles and replacement with a warning light. A V-16 emergency light is a siren that emits a yellow toned LED light in short bursts (flashing on and off) from the moment it is turned on. These lights are bright enough to be seen from up to one kilometre away, if the sky is clear. The light has a strong magnet on the bottom,enabling it to stick easily and simply to the roof of your car, without risking any damage to your paint work.
My motorhome roof is GRP sheathed alloy and 3m up! Similar issues for caravans. It seems that PVC's may have the edge. Just hope the driver is tall. 
Apparently the move is to reduce the need to exit the vehicle to deploy warning triangles.
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Interesting post but doesn't that assume a direct straight line of sight to the light to enable it to be seen? OK on a straight road but if one is unfortunate to break down on a Sharpe curve it won't help much where as a warning triangle could be placed before it?
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I have read about the speed changes but not heard about the warning light introductiion. What annoys me is the Club has not reported on these and other changes. I do only flick through the magazine so hope I am correct. I recall they used to have a column in the mag which used to feature news from the Continent or was it only France. This has disappeared of late. It would be nice if they kept us up to date.
peedee
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They probably don't think it's relevant as were aren't allowed over there yet. By the time we are, CAMC will have forgotten probably.
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Keeping up to date ,as with many companies at this time ,personal easy contact with fellow employee's, ,is no longer a case of face to face information exchanges, two organisations I have had to contact recently ,have apologised for late replies this club being one ,as with so many staff now working remotely, even with "zoom"? Meetings information ,is difficult now to deceminate? between departments
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Years ago there was a lady in the Foreign Touring section of the Club, sorry forgotten her name, who was very good at picking up information posted by members of changes to overseas rules. She would then contact the Clubs associates overseas to confirm the details. Sometimes the problem is that some rules apply just to the people living in the country concerned and sometimes they are universal. I imagine many of the initial sources of this information that appears on forums is gathered from ex Pat forums (perhaps the source of CY's information?) which I don't think it is reasonable to expect the Club to follow, they have to wait until there is some official announcement?
David
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The Club should be in touch with changes after all it produces Euopean guides and sells Continental holidays. The other change which the Club has said nothing about is the requirement in France for vehicles over 3.5 tons to display stickers on the back and sides of vehicles.
peedee
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I have just searched back and the staff member was called Hazel.
David
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Hi everyone, just to let you know we are are aware of this and checking with the FIA (Federation International Automobile). We will post when we have more information.
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Thanks everyone for your patience. I have been talking to my colleagues on the travel team who have advised the below.
Firstly regarding the new speed limits in Spain the following now applies on the majority of urban roads but may vary from city to city:
The speeds on single lane roads with a pavement which does not differ in height from the road's surface will now be limited to 20 km/h.
Roads with a single lane each way will be limited to 30 km/h.
Roads with 2 or more lanes each way will remain unchanged with a limit of 50 km/h.The use of the V-16 emergency light (beacon) will be gradually phased in from 1 July 2021 as a replacement to the warning triangle. The emergency beacon has a yellow/orange, 60-degree, flashing light that will have a parabolic reflector allowing visibility from approximately one kilometre away. It also has geolocation features built-in and Bluetooth technology, which will allow users to connect them to a mobile so they will be able to send a request for roadside assistance when it is activated. The use of the beacons will come into effect on July 1, 2021, but motorists will still be able to use the traditional warning triangle or light without geolocation until January 1, 2026. From that date on, the only permitted form of warning device will be the V16 Beacon that has built-in geolocation.
The beacons don't have to be placed on top of the caravan, the official document RD 159/21 says that it has to be placed as high as possible and fixed properly as the beacon has a strong magnet on the bottom, enabling it to stick easily, guaranteeing that it is very visible and properly attached.
The website will be updated soon with the relevant information. We are also waiting for more details if the speed changes affect differently depending on the outfit weight and will update you once we have more information.
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I'll be well past 80 by then and certainly past abseiling of a motorhome roof. At best motorhomes may be able to place the gadget facing out a rear window, assuming theirs has one. Perhaps by then I'll have to cross Spain off my list.
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