Drivers across Andalucia have been warned to slow down after Spain’s traffic authority launched a week-long speed enforcement campaign on Monday.

The Directorate-General for Traffic (DGT) began the operation on Monday, with enhanced speed checks set to remain in place until Sunday, August 9.

Guardia Civil Trafico will work with local and regional forces to ramp up speed controls on motorways, dual carriageways, conventional roads and urban streets.

On the Costa del Sol, Marbella Local Police warned it will be maintaining a high level of random roadside checks to catch drug drivers or any other offenders.

The DGT said the campaign is aimed at tackling one of the leading causes of serious road accidents, noting that inappropriate speed is the third most common contributing factor in fatal and serious crashes.

Officials warned that speeding not only increases the likelihood of being involved in a collision but also reduces reaction times and significantly worsens the severity of injuries when accidents occur.

The campaign coincides with the peak summer holiday period, when long-distance journeys to tourist destinations combine with shorter local trips, creating heavier traffic across the region.

The DGT has also supplied mobile speed cameras to several municipalities experiencing high volumes of summer traffic, including coastal towns in Cadiz province. In Rota, Local Police officers began deploying the devices from patrol vehicles on Monday.

Last year’s campaign saw the Guardia Civil inspect 275,340 vehicles, with 30,175 drivers caught speeding, which is the equivalent to 10.9% of all motorists checked.

Nearly 63% of the offences were detected on motorways and dual carriageways.

The government’s representative in Sevilla, Francisco Toscano, urged motorists to drive responsibly during the holiday season.

‘Traffic increases towards tourist destinations during the holidays, and people tend to adopt a more relaxed attitude behind the wheel. But a moment of distraction, overconfidence or excessive speed can turn summer into a tragedy,’ he said.

He also highlighted the consequences of high-speed collisions, noting that one in five injury-causing road accidents involves inappropriate speed.

To underline the risks, Toscano compared a crash at 120km/hr to falling from the 14th floor of a building, adding that a pedestrian struck at that speed would have almost no chance of survival.

Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.