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Look no hands! Driverless car takes to the road in first trip across Spain

A prototype autonomous Citroen that could be on the market as soon as 2018 made the journey from Galicia, in northwestern Spain to Madrid on Monday.

Published: 24 November 2015 10:33 CET

Look no hands! Driverless car takes to the road in first trip across Spain

Photo: Faconauto

The C4 Picasso made the 600-km (372-mile) road trip between the two main Citroen factories in Vigo and the Spanish capital without the help of a driver at the wheel.

The test was carried out after Spain’s traffic directorate adopted new regulations earlier this month that sets the framework for driverless cars.

Así es el coche autónomo de PSA Peugeot Citroën que está cruzando media España ahora m… https://t.co/n0srajVFO2 pic.twitter.com/ufd0g2n4EF

— Motorpasión (@motorpasion) November 23, 2015

The ‘intelligent’ car that combines GPS and camera sensors, radar and laser scanners to navigate the roads looks no different from any other car but is intended to make road travel safer by removing human error.

However, at the moment regulations only allow the car to be driven on motorways and dual carriageways and restrict use in built up urban areas.

The cars could be on the road within five years.

“The PSA Citroen group intends to equip some of their production cars with self-driving systems from 2018,” explained Jose Leon Capitan, the spokesman for Citroen Spain at a press conference.

“As totally autonomous driving becomes possible in our vehicles by 2020, it will allow us to reduce sensibly the number of car accidents,” he said.

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Can you do your driving test in Spain with an automatic car?

Getting a car in Spain may be necessary depending on where you live in the country. For example, if you move to a rural area or a small town in Andalusia, northern Spain, Extremadura or Castilla-La Mancha, you will probably need your own vehicle.

Some of these places lack adequate public transport and you may have to move around to be able to access services in other locations.

If you live in big cities such as Madrid, Barcelona or Valencia, it’s not so necessary to own a car as their public transport networks are very good.

But for those who do need a car, and may be coming from outside of Europe it may be daunting for them to have to learn how to drive a manual car instead of an automatic one.

EU nationals living in Spain can drive on their EU licence, as long as they are still valid, but non-EU nationals can only drive on theirs for up to six months until they need to exchange it for a Spanish one or take a new driving test.

Spain has bilateral agreements with a number of non-EU countries including Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Brazil, Turkey, the Philippines, Ukraine and the UK. You can find a full list here.

This means that nationals of these countries can swap their licence for a Spanish one without having to take a Spanish driving test.

But if you’re originally from a non-EU country that doesn’t have a bilateral agreement with Spain, like the US, Australia, New Zealand and Canada for example, you’ll need to take a driving test in order to get a new Spanish driving licence.

READ ALSO – Driving in Spain: The documents to show if you get stopped by police

Driving a manual car (coche con cambio manual) where you have to change gears yourself can be difficult, particularly for those who have never ever driven these types of cars.

READ ALSO – Driving in Spain: Can I take my theory and practical tests in English?

Can you take Spain’s practical driving test with an automatic vehicle?

Good news – yes, you can. There is actually a special licence you will be issued for vehículos de transmisión automática, but you will only be able to drive automatic cars in Spain. It is a variant of the B licence, but only for cars without a clutch pedal or gearbox with gears.

The practical exam itself is no different from that for people getting the standard B licence, which allows holders to drive both manual and automatic cars.

With a manual car licence you can drive any type of car weighing 3,500 kg GVW, whether it has a manual or automatic transmission, but with an automatic driving licence you can only drive automatic cars.

This will still be a relief for those who never learned how to drive a manual car, but it may be difficult in some certain circumstances, if for example you’re hiring a car and they don’t have any automatic ones.

Electric cars are automatic, so that’s worth keeping in mind as well.

READ ALSO – Driving in Spain: Who can exchange their licence and who has to resit the exam?

If you do get caught driving a manual car and you only have an automatic licence you can be fined €500 and have four points removed from your licence. You will also not be insured to drive any other type of car.

The good news is that you can drive electric cars, as well as hybrid cars that don’t have a manual gearbox.

READ ALSO – Spanish driving licence: the essential language to pass your practical test

How can I get this special licence for automatic vehicles in Spain?

The first step is to find a driving school that carries out this type of test, as not all schools will offer the chance to get an automatic-only licence.

This is because the number of people wanting a licence for manual vehicles far outweighs the number wanting one for automatic transmission vehicles. In fact, according to Spain’s RACE car association, only one in every 100 people ask for an automatic-only licence in Spain.

If you’re going to be living in Spain long-term or even permanently, it may be advisable to take some extra driving lessons so you can learn how to drive a manual car and simply take the test for the normal manual licence.

Those that choose to take the exam in a manual car will be able to use their Spanish licence to drive both manual and automatic vehicles.

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