Spain: 2000-euro penalty for taking regular weekly rest in the cabin

The royal decree no. 70/2019 of 15 February, published in the Official Journal amends the ordinance on the transport law (ROTT).

The ordinance came into effect on 21 February and contains regulations on how to enforce the ban on taking regular weekly rest in the cabin. The ban itself was already approved last year but its application is regulated by the ordinance that has just been issued. The penalty for violating the ban is the same as in the case of other violations of the regular weekly rest rules, that is 2000 euro.
Apparently, the reason why new ordinance does not provide for a separate penalty for this offence is that the ROTT does not include an explicit regulation on this subject. As for the way the ban will be enforced by the Spanish inspection authority, no details are available yet. Based on informal conversations with representative of the Ministry of Development, in addition to checking current compliance, inspectors will be able to check drivers retrospectively, without having to analyse evidence (such as hotel receipts), in order to make sure that the rest was not taken in the cabin.