Spanish courts annul DGT traffic fines due to insufficient photographic evidence

Spanish courts are increasingly annulling traffic fines issued by the Dirección General de Tráfico (DGT) due to insufficient photographic evidence. Legal experts note that many sanctions for crossing continuous lines are being overturned because the automated cameras fail to capture the exact moment of the infraction.

Typically, the automated system provides two images: one showing the vehicle before the maneuver and another after it has passed the initial position. However, judges have ruled that these ‘before and after’ photos do not constitute unequivocal proof of the violation, as they do not show the vehicle actually touching or crossing the continuous line.

These automated sanctions are processed by the Centro de Tratamiento de Denuncias Automatizadas (CTDA) in León. In 2025, the center processed approximately four million sanctions from 6.5 million images. Legal professionals argue that the administration cannot rely on mere inferences or reconstructions of what occurred between two photographs to substitute for direct evidence, citing the principle of presumption of innocence.