Spanish road signs and their meanings

Spain's new traffic signs: what the 2025 catalogue changed

Spain's "new traffic signs" are the ones in the catalogue approved by Royal Decree 465/2025 of 10 June (published in the Official State Gazette on 17 June 2025), which amends the General Traffic Regulations on road signage and consolidates the official catalogue of signs and road markings. It came into force on 1 July 2025, adding new signs — among them signs for personal mobility vehicles — and redesigning 59 pictograms, according to the DGT.

• On the road the change is gradual: the DGT's press note of 10 June 2025 says the physical replacement of the signs will be carried out progressively.
• Signs removed from the catalogue must be taken down within one year of entry into force, counting from 1 July 2025.
• They did not go straight into the theory exam: the DGT announced that the new signs would not be included in theory exams immediately, so that the manuals could be updated — a minimum of three months after entry into force.

Sources: BOE — Real Decreto 465/2025, de 10 de junio (BOE-A-2025-12199) · DGT — Nota de prensa: el Gobierno aprueba la actualización del catálogo oficial de señales de tráfico (10/06/2025) · DGT — Revista Tráfico y Seguridad Vial: «¿Qué significan las nuevas señales?»

Frequently asked questions

How many Spanish traffic signs are there, and how are they classified?

This page gathers 315 vertical signs from the official catalogue, grouped into the three families of Spain's General Traffic Regulations: 50 warning signs (code P-, triangular with a red border), 73 regulatory signs (code R-, circular — red to prohibit or restrict, blue to compel) and 192 information signs (code S-, rectangular or square and usually blue). Every sign has its own page with the meaning, category and shape.

What do red triangular signs mean in Spain?

Red triangular signs are the 50 warning signs coded P-: triangular, red border on a white background, warning of a hazard ahead — a bend, a level crossing, schoolchildren or loose animals. Examples from the catalogue: P-1 (an intersection where the road you are travelling on has priority), P-13A (a dangerous curve to the right), P-20 (the possible presence of pedestrians). They neither prohibit nor compel anything by themselves: they ask you to anticipate and ease off.

Which are the Spanish prohibition signs?

The circular regulatory signs with a red border, inside the R- code group. They prohibit or restrict a manoeuvre or an access, and ignoring one is a punishable offence: R-101 (no entry), R-305 (no overtaking), R-301 (sets a maximum speed). The blue circular signs in the same R- group do not prohibit — they compel.

What do blue circular signs mean in Spain?

Blue circular signs are compulsory-action signs, inside the R- code group. They impose a specific behaviour — a direction, a lane or a minimum speed — rather than forbidding one: R-401A (mandatory passage), R-400A (a mandatory direction). Colour tells them apart at a glance from the red circular prohibition signs: blue compels, red prohibits.

What do the stop and give way signs mean in Spain?

They are two regulatory signs of the R- group that settle who goes first at a junction: R-1 (give way), R-2 (mandatory stop). At R-1 you must not continue if doing so could force a user with priority to change path or speed, though a complete stop is not always required. At R-2 you must stop completely and move off only once you have checked that you will not interfere with those who have priority.

Are Spanish road signs the same as in the UK?

This page documents Spain's own catalogue, and it does not compare each sign with its UK counterpart. In Spain's catalogue, warning signs are triangular with a red border, regulatory signs are circular (red to prohibit or restrict, blue to compel) and information signs are rectangular or square and usually blue. Where a sign carries words, they are in Spanish, so learn each sign by its symbol and its P-, R- or S- code. For UK signs, the UK Highway Code is the reference.

How many signs come up in the DGT theory test?

We cannot give a guaranteed number: the topic mix of a practice test does not predict the topic mix of your exam. What is fixed is the format of the category B theory test: 30 questions in 30 minutes, with at most 3 wrong answers. Signs are one of the topics, so it is worth knowing all three families, and the free signs quiz is a quick way to practise them.

Which sign overrides another when they contradict?

The general precedence order is: officers' signs and orders > temporary signalling and delineation > traffic lights > vertical signs > road markings. This is the order in Article 133 of the General Traffic Regulations.

What do the P, R and S codes mean?

P = peligro / warning (triangles), R = reglamentación / regulatory (circles), S = indicación / information (rectangles). These are the official codes used by Spain's General Traffic Regulations, and we use them as the URL slug so you can find any sign by its reference.

What are Spain's new traffic signs?

The ones added or redesigned by the catalogue approved in Royal Decree 465/2025 of 10 June. The DGT lists these codes: P-1e, P-20c, P-24a, P-33, P-35, R-2, R-118, R-120, S-1c, S-14 (a–f), S-47, S-51b, S-63b, S-70, S-105 (a–f), S-892, S-940, S-991g, S-992. They include R-118 (no entry for personal mobility vehicles), R-120 (no entry depending on the vehicle's environmental badge) and S-47 (coexistence zone, 20 km/h limit).

Since when are the new Spanish traffic signs in force?

Since 1 July 2025. Royal Decree 465/2025 of 10 June was published in the Official State Gazette on 17 June 2025 and came into force that day. Seeing them on the road is another matter: the DGT said the physical replacement of the signs would be carried out gradually, and that signs removed from the catalogue must be taken down within one year of entry into force.

Do the new signs appear in the DGT theory test?

In its press note of 10 June 2025 the DGT announced that the new signs would not be included in theory exams immediately, to allow time for the manuals to be updated — a minimum of three months after entry into force. We do not state which specific signs are on the exam today; the DGT is the reference for that.