When to use your lights in Spain: dipped beam, main beam, fog lights and daytime
Reviewed on 11 October 2026 · sources: BOE (Reglamento General de Circulación)
Short answer. You must have your lights on between sunset and sunrise, at any hour in tunnels and on stretches marked with the tunnel sign (S-5), and whenever fog, heavy rain, snow, smoke or dust reduce visibility noticeably. Which light you use depends on how well lit the road is and whether other vehicles are ahead or coming towards you. The rules are in articles 98 to 107 of the Reglamento General de Circulación.
Two English terms to fix before you read on: luz de cruce is the dipped beam (low beam) and luz de carretera is the main beam (high beam). The exam uses dipped and main.
Which light in which situation
| Situation | Lights on | Article |
|---|---|---|
| Sunset to sunrise, or a tunnel | Position lights (and clearance lights if the vehicle is wider than 2.10 m) | 99 |
| A well-lit town or inter-urban road | Position lights and dipped beam | 101.1 |
| Outside built-up areas, at night, on a poorly lit road, above 40 km/h | Main beam, unless you must use dipped | 100.1 |
| A poorly lit inter-urban road, and you have no main beam, travel at 40 km/h or less without main beam, or could dazzle others | Dipped beam | 101.2 |
| Fog, heavy rain, snow, smoke or dust | Front fog light, dipped beam or main beam | 106 |
The regulation defines a "poorly lit" road: one where, with normal eyesight, at some point of the carriageway you cannot read a number plate at 10 metres or make out a dark-painted vehicle at 50 metres (art. 100.3).
When to switch off the main beam
Dip the main beam as soon as it could dazzle other users, above all drivers coming the other way, even if they have not dipped theirs, and do not put it back on until you have passed the other vehicle. The same care applies to vehicles ahead of you, which can be dazzled through their mirror (art. 102). The main beam is forbidden when the vehicle is stopped or parked, and so is flashing main and dipped beam alternately for purposes the regulation does not provide for (art. 100.2). If you are the one being dazzled, slow down as much as needed, even to a stop, so you do not run into anyone ahead (art. 102.3).
Fog lights and hazard lights
- Front fog light: only in fog, heavy rain, snow, smoke or dust, or on narrow winding roads (a carriageway of 6.5 m or less signed with a series of close bends). It can be used alone, with the dipped beam or with the main beam.
- Rear fog light: only when conditions are especially bad, such as thick fog, very heavy rain, heavy snow or dense clouds of dust or smoke (art. 106.2).
- Hazard lights: if you stop on a motorway or dual carriageway, or where visibility is sharply reduced, you must mark your vehicle with the hazard lights if you have them (art. 109.2.c).
By day
A car does not have to drive with lights on in daylight, except in tunnels and S-5 stretches, in fog or heavy rain, and in reversible lanes, additional temporary lanes or lanes used against the normal direction. Motorcycles must have the dipped beam on by day on every road (art. 104). If you come from a country with daytime running lights by law, do not assume the same applies here for cars.
A worked example: night, bends and fog
You drive at 23:00 on a minor road with no street lights, at 70 km/h.
- The road is poorly lit, outside a built-up area and you are above 40 km/h: main beam (art. 100).
- A car appears ahead: you dip before dazzling the driver and keep the dipped beam until you have passed (art. 102).
- You enter a thick fog bank: add the front fog light, and the rear one if conditions are especially bad (art. 106).
- If the fog is so dense that you must stop on the shoulder, you switch on the hazard lights and, once stopped, the position lights (arts. 105 and 109).
The trap. The main beam, dipped beam and fog lights are not interchangeable. The rear fog light is not for "quite a lot of rain": it needs especially bad conditions. And the dipped beam is not compulsory by day for a car on an open road: the "lights always on" rule applies in daytime only to motorcycles, tunnels and lanes used in the opposite direction.
If you do not follow it
Driving without the required lights is a serious offence, with a 200 euro fine (Ley de Tráfico, art. 76.e). Dazzling others is another serious offence under the regulation. Neither appears among the offences that take points (annex II).
Keep going
- The topic in the syllabus: lighting and optical signalling.
- The signs, in Spanish: R-413 dipped beam required and S-5 tunnel.
- Related numbers: speed limits in Spain.
- Practise: today's free 30-question DGT exam, available in English.
Reviewed against the consolidated BOE text on 11 October 2026. DrivingLingo is independent and is not endorsed by the DGT. This page is not legal advice.