paintermujer

Just read on the internet that sat navs are banned in Spain.
Can anyone throw light on that. We were going to buy one.

Crazy surely!!!!!!!!!!!!!

lynnxa

well I think Mitzy will a bit upset if it is true.............

rugbymatt

He needs a donkey he does!

EsuriJohn

The short answer is yes they are legal however there are complications over what information they give.They cannot "detect" speed cameras but if they have stored info on locations that pick upon the GPS thats OK. Also they must not be viewed y the driver but if they read out info or a passenger views the screen thats OK.

paintermujer

Great info . Thanks. Thought it sounded silly.

Seeing as you know about them could you suggest a good one to buy?

Fred James

I think you will find that they can be read by the driver but programming them while in the car is illegal. Other display screens are illegal (DVDs etc) GPS systems are specifically excluded from this limitation. They are availble in rental cars as an option.

Detection of radar traps may be legal but jamming them is not. Trafico publish a list of fixed radars and these can be accessed legally by GPS systems.

More here

http://www.aseta.es/autopistasesp/nue_traf.pdf

twistedmelon

Tricky one that.
It's the radar detection part that is illegal and as many have those maps pre loaded then strictly speaking you would be breaking the law.
If you don't have that radar option then you would have to prove to the police that you didn't.
There has been an approval granted to make ALL sat nav illegal in spain but as far as I know that is not law yet.
Basically you can have it but you takes your chances.

Fred James

I think you will find that they can be read by the driver but programming them while in the car is illegal. Other display screens are illegal (DVDs etc)

Detection of radar traps may be legal but jamming them is not. Trafico publish a list of fixed radars and these can be accessed legally by GPS systems.

More here

http://www.aseta.es/autopistasesp/nue_traf.pdf

Specifically:-


Quedan prohibidos los dispositivos que puedan distraer al conductor, como
pantallas con acceso a internet, monitores de televisión y reproductores de
vídeo o DVD. Se exceptúan a estos efectos el uso de monitores que, aún estando
a la vista del conductor, su utilización sea necesaria (visión de acceso o bajada
de peatones, maniobras traseras...) así como el dispositivo GPS.

EsuriJohn

We bought one for our first road trip to Ayamonte 2yrs ago and we found it brilliant but they do take some getting used and the faith you put in them grows with use. Everyone will tell you the sat nav they have is the best so take recommendatins with care. Ours is a Snooper and is third one of that make we have had we find their Enigma Speed Trap database the best all over Europe. Several makes use the same mapping technology so it is how they use it that matters.By mapping technology I meant the software in the unit and I think it is NavQ or somthing like that which appears in a few different satnavs and is in my view a very good system. You usually have to pay for the map update but the speed trap up dates are often free.

Fred James

There is only one GPS system in use in Europe and that is the US system which is run by the USAF. It is the NAVSTAR system. The Russians have a system and there are moves to have a European system but we are a long way away from getting an alternative to the US system.

Whether your GPS is good or not depends entirely on the software in the unit and the maps available. All the GPS system does is give you an accurate position based on THEIR charts. If your GPS system uses different maps then the accuracy can suffer.

Another obvious problem is how often are YOUR maps updated with new road information. Most decent systems allow online updates.

I had one of the first GPS systems on a yacht nearly 15 years ago and even with the official UK Admiralty charts they were not as accurate as you might think!

A bit of GPS history coming up! When the US first introduced the system they planned two levels of accuracy. The domestic system - accuracy about 100m and the defence system - accuracy down to a few metres.

Unfortunately the accuracy was way better than expected and they then had to downgrade the domestic accuracy by frigging the accuracy of the timing system.

Then the Gulf war arrived and unfortunately they had too few "defence" receivers available, so they bought up the world wide supply of the "yacht" systems and immediately took out the timing inaccuracy.

I remember it well, all of a sudden our GPS could tell which side of the marina berth it was moored on!

After the end of the war they reverted to the inaccurate system. After a few years they came under pressure to make the accurate system available - airline pilots use it and complained about the safety risk of a (deliberately) inaccurate system.

In the meantime technology advanced and someone came up with "Differential" GPS which involved a land based system working out the innacuracy on a real time basis and transmitting the correction to all the GPS systems.

At this point the US military gave up and let us have the real, accurate, system at last - and the rest is history!

Mitzyboy

I just bought a Tom Tom European XL IQ Routes, £169
Didnt have the speed camera add on

I also thought that they are legal as long as you cant see them ..... not sure though, but as it speaks to me I dont need to see the screen

scampicat

We have also just bought a satnav (UK and Europe) as we got fed up of getting lost in Madrid; I think it is the same model as Mitzyboy's (£169) . We bought it for both our 60th birthdays (January 2009 and January 2010).

We have had a free download of the latest maps (supplied by TomTom).

We have downloaded the speed cameras.(£19)

We have downloaded Jonh Cleese's voice (£7) too, to tell us our route.

Why is it illegal to know where the speed cameras are? If they want you to slow down, that will surely do it. Maybe it's like in the UK where they don't actually want you to slow down, they want to catch you speeding so they can fine you.

Having said that we rarely, if ever, exceed the speed limit.

Are you now going to tell me our Sat Nav is illegal? If so, that (for me) will be another nail in Spain's coffin, sorry.

(Edited to add : Just seen Fred James' post, thanks!)

Mitzyboy

Mine is Homer Simpsons voice
It also tells me when am exceeding the speed limit, audible alarm

scampicat

My husband vascillated (big word innit) between Homer Simpson and John Cleese, so I got the casting vote and opted for John.

I would have liked him in his Basil Fawlty character, but he's reasonably funny just as John Cleese.

'You have reached your destination. I am not going to carry your bags. I am not going to help you any more. From hereon you are entirely on your own.'

'Turn around, so that you are facing in the opposite direction from the direction in which you are directing your vehicle'.

What does Homer say? ('Doh!' if you go the wrong way????).

Econ

I spoke to the Guardia 'Trafico' about their legality a short time back at a petrol station , they said they where legal... but, they must not be manipulated while driving and must not obstruct your view, one of the Guardia also added... if you get someone with 'mala leche' then beware because it he thinks it is obtrusive then you can be issued with a fine.

I guess the moral of the story is: don't piss one of them off if they stop you