Catalonia, where convictions for driving offenses are increasing the most
Last year, 742 people were in prison for traffic offenses and 5,000 were serving alternative penal measures.
BarcelonaCatalonia is, by far, the autonomous community where convictions for road safety offenses have increased the most in the last year. Furthermore, it remains the region with the highest total number of sentences, something that the deputy prosecutor for road safety in Barcelona, Isabel López, describes as a "consolidated trend." This is confirmed by the annual report of the State Attorney General's Office, which indicates that more than 27,800 convictions for driving offenses were handed down in Catalonia last year, which represents almost a third (29%) of the 95,300 rulings made last year across the country. This also represents another 9,600 of the rulings made in our country in 2023.
In fact, the report of the State Attorney General attributes the increase in convictions for driving offenses across the country mainly to the "very notable" increase recorded in Catalonia, although there are also more modest increases in the Basque Country and Assaka. In contrast, convictions have tended to decline in the rest of the regions. López warns that there may be some discrepancy in the figures from one year to the next, and believes that "population size and mobility" are the main reason why Catalonia consistently tops these statistics. "I don't think people here drive worse or have less road safety awareness," he clarifies.
Among all convictions for road crimes last year in Catalonia, the most frequent were for drunk or drug driving (see graph). This represents 55% of convictions in 2024 in this area and, along with 37% of sentences for driving without a license, accounts for the majority of road crimes. Refusal to take an alcohol and drug test, or reckless driving or speeding exceeding the speed limit and reaching criminal jurisdiction, are much less common.
Short or no prison sentences
However, most sentences do not result in the defendant ending up in prison, and when they do, it is usually "for very short periods, but at least three months," says López. More common are fines or community service, preferably carried out in centers related to the same field, such as the Guttmann Institute of Neurorehabilitation. According to data from the Department of Justice, a total of 10,414 people passed through the prison system last year, 742 of whom had a traffic offense as their primary conviction. In addition, 15,299 were linked to the alternative penal measures system, 5,038 for these types of offenses.
Detect alcohol and drugs
Driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs is classified as the same crime, which is why they appear together in the statistics from the Attorney General's Office. However, data from the Barcelona Prosecutor's Office do break them down, revealing that last year 97% of cases involved alcohol. For the deputy prosecutor for road safety, this statistic is largely due to the existence of an objective rate—0.6 milligrams per liter of air inhaled—that establishes the blood alcohol level threshold at which a criminal offense begins. However, in the case of a driver who is allegedly under the influence of drugs, to convict them "you have to prove that they consumed these substances and that they influenced" their driving: "This is much more difficult than proving an objective rate with a breathalyzer. With drugs, it's a little more difficult, although that's perfectly fine."
In these cases, the testimony provided by the officers who caught the offender is crucial. "There must be symptoms; there's no specific number. The symptoms can be very different, they're more difficult to detect, and different drugs can be present at the same time," admits Francesc Parra, Chief Inspector of the Mossos d'Esquadra's Road Investigation Division, who emphasizes the training of officers to detect these behaviors.
However, violations that cross into the criminal sphere are a small part of police interventions in road safety, and most result in an administrative infraction. "When conduct is charged as a crime, it's because it's serious. They're the ones that concern us the most, the ones we put the most effort into," says Parra, adding that tolerance for these cases must be "zero." According to data from the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police), these cases have increased since 2019, just before the pandemic. Proportionately, the ones that have grown the most are driving without a license (from 4,808 in 2019 to 7,278, a 51% increase) and refusal to take breathalyzer and drug tests (from 1,262 to 1,980, a 56% increase). Criminal cases of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs also increased by 21% (from 9,900 to 12,000).
Anti-Recidivism Programs
Both sentences that involve imprisonment and those that do not are accompanied by programs aimed at preventing reoffending. When necessary, substance abuse treatment is also provided. In the case of alternative penal measures, the majority profile is a male between 30 and 50 years old, with no criminal record, and a "low-risk criminal profile," explains Marta Ferrer, deputy director of community criminal enforcement. The treatment programs consist of approximately 30 hours of group sessions to work on issues such as impulse control or road rage. "For example, I get drunk to forget that I argued with a friend or partner, and I end up driving while intoxicated. We work on what to do when this happens," she says.
They also focus heavily on empathy with the victim, as is done in prisons with convicted prisoners. "For them, these talks are very impactful. It's about becoming aware that when I speed too much, things can happen; I can cause an accident," explains Marian Martínez, head of the Specialized Care Programs Unit. They also work on empowering children: "Don't downplay the crime; let them be aware that this happened because they allowed it."
