Alcohol Limits for Driving in Spain: The DGT Exam Numbers You Must Memorize
For the DGT exam, the alcohol limit for a new driver in Spain (less than two years with a licence) is 0.3 g/l in blood / 0.15 mg/l in breath — the same limit that applies to professional drivers. The general limit for everyone else is 0.5 g/l in blood / 0.25 mg/l in breath, and certain categories (such as minors on mopeds or e-scooters) must be at 0.0. These are the values in force in 2026, and they are the only correct answers on the test.
The four alcohol-limit tiers in one memorizable table
Almost every alcohol question on the DGT theory test comes down to matching a driver to the right number. There are only four tiers, and they barely changed in years — so memorize this table and you have the topic locked. The breath value (mg/l in aire espirado) is always half the blood value (g/l en sangre), which makes them easy to pair.
| Driver category | Blood (g/l) | Breath (mg/l) |
|---|---|---|
| General drivers | 0.5 | 0.25 |
| New drivers (first 2 years) | 0.3 | 0.15 |
| Professional drivers | 0.3 | 0.15 |
| Minors / certain categories | 0.0 | 0.0 |
If you only remember one thing, remember the pairing 0.5 / 0.25 general and 0.3 / 0.15 new and professional. The exam loves to test whether you confuse the blood figure with the breath figure, or whether you apply the general limit to a new driver who should be held to the stricter one.
General drivers: 0.5 g/l blood / 0.25 mg/l breath
This is the baseline limit and the most common figure on the test. Any fully-licensed private driver who has held their permit for more than two years and is not driving professionally falls under 0.5 g/l in blood, equivalent to 0.25 mg/l in breath. A police breathalyser measures breath, so 0.25 mg/l is the number you will most often see written on an exam screen.
It is worth understanding what these numbers mean in practice, even though the DGT does not ask you to estimate drinks. There is no reliable "one beer is fine" rule — the same drink raises a small person's level far more than a large person's, and food, time and metabolism all change the result. The DGT's own position is blunt: the only genuinely safe level is 0.0, because crash risk starts climbing below the legal threshold. For the exam, though, the legal answer for a general driver is 0.5 / 0.25.
New drivers (first 2 years) and professional drivers: 0.3 g/l / 0.15 mg/l
This is the tier most exam questions try to catch you on, and it is the heart of your target keyword. A conductor novel — a driver in the first two years after obtaining their licence — is held to a stricter limit of 0.3 g/l in blood / 0.15 mg/l in breath. The two-year clock runs from the date the licence was issued, not from when you started driving lessons.
The exact same 0.3 / 0.15 limit applies to professional drivers: anyone driving a goods vehicle over 3,500 kg, a vehicle carrying more than nine people (including the driver), a taxi or ride-hail vehicle, an emergency or school-transport vehicle, or a vehicle carrying dangerous goods. The logic the exam wants you to absorb is that less experience and greater responsibility both justify a tighter limit than the general public.
- New driver, first 2 years: 0.3 g/l / 0.15 mg/l
- Goods vehicle over 3,500 kg: 0.3 g/l / 0.15 mg/l
- Passenger transport (more than 9 occupants, taxi, school bus): 0.3 g/l / 0.15 mg/l
- Emergency, dangerous-goods and special-transport vehicles: 0.3 g/l / 0.15 mg/l
A classic trick question shows a driver who passed their test 18 months ago and asks for their maximum legal breath level. The answer is 0.15 mg/l, not 0.25 — because they are still inside the two-year novice window.
Minors and the 0.0 rule
There is no separate numeric allowance for very young riders: certain users must be at 0.0. In practice this is most relevant to minors riding mopeds, e-scooters or bicycles where a licence threshold and an age threshold overlap. The principle the DGT wants on the exam is simple — where 0.0 applies, any detectable alcohol is over the limit, with no margin at all.
Do not extend the 0.0 figure to ordinary adult drivers. A common wrong answer presents 0.0 as the legal limit "for all drivers." It is not. For a standard private driver the limit is 0.5 / 0.25, and the 0.0 figure belongs to the restricted categories described above.
Breath vs blood: how the two measurements relate
Spanish law expresses every alcohol limit two ways: grams per litre in blood (g/l en sangre) and milligrams per litre in exhaled breath (mg/l en aire espirado). The conversion the DGT uses is consistent: the breath value is half the blood value. So 0.5 g/l corresponds to 0.25 mg/l, and 0.3 g/l corresponds to 0.15 mg/l.
Why does this matter for the test? Because roadside controls use a breathalyser, the figures you will most often be quoted in a question are the breath ones — 0.25 and 0.15. If a question gives you a blood figure instead, halve it to find the breath equivalent (or double a breath figure to find the blood one). Knowing this relationship means you only have to memorize two pairs of numbers, not four loose values.
| Limit pair | Blood (g/l) | Breath (mg/l) |
|---|---|---|
| General | 0.5 | 0.25 |
| New / professional | 0.3 | 0.15 |
| Criminal offence threshold | 1.2 | 0.60 |
Where it stops being a fine and becomes a criminal offence
Exceeding the administrative limit is a serious traffic offence punished with a fine and the loss of licence points. But above a certain level it becomes a delito contra la seguridad vial — a criminal offence under the Penal Code, dealt with by a court rather than a traffic fine. That threshold is 0.60 mg/l in breath, equivalent to 1.2 g/l in blood.
The practical ladder the exam expects you to understand is: below the limit, legal; over the limit but under 0.60 mg/l, an administrative penalty (fine plus points); at or above 0.60 mg/l, a criminal offence that can carry a driving ban, a substantial fine measured in days, community service or even a prison term. Two other behaviours are also criminal regardless of your reading: refusing to take the test, and driving with a level the court considers manifestly to impair you.
One related rule the DGT increasingly tests: drugs are zero tolerance. Unlike alcohol, there is no permitted numeric amount for drugs — any detectable presence of a controlled substance while driving is an offence. So the contrast to memorize is "alcohol has a number; drugs have none."
Current exam-correct values vs the proposed 2026 reduction
You may have read headlines about Spain lowering the general limit to 0.2 g/l (0.1 mg/l) for all drivers. This is the single biggest trap on this topic right now, so be precise about it. The DGT did promote that reduction, and a bill to enact it reached Congress. On 18 March 2026, the Interior Commission of the Congreso de los Diputados rejected it — the vote went against the change (19 votes to 18), so the proposal did not advance.
What that means for you is unambiguous: the 0.2 g/l figure is not in force and the proposal is dead, not pending. The values you must select on the exam remain 0.5 / 0.25 for general drivers and 0.3 / 0.15 for new and professional drivers. If an answer option offers 0.2 g/l or 0.1 mg/l as "the current general limit," it is wrong. Spain stayed with the same limits as most of the EU, where 0.5 g/l is still the standard.
- In force (correct on the exam): 0.5 / 0.25 general, 0.3 / 0.15 new and professional, 0.0 for restricted categories.
- Proposed and rejected (do not select): 0.2 g/l / 0.1 mg/l for all drivers.
Practice: real exam-style alcohol questions
Here is how the topic actually appears, with the reasoning the DGT rewards.
- "A driver obtained their licence 14 months ago. What is the maximum breath alcohol level they may have?" Answer: 0.15 mg/l. They are inside the two-year novice window, so the stricter limit applies — not 0.25.
- "What is the general maximum blood alcohol level for an experienced private driver?" Answer: 0.5 g/l. The breath equivalent is 0.25 mg/l.
- "From what breath level does driving under the influence of alcohol become a criminal offence?" Answer: 0.60 mg/l (1.2 g/l in blood).
- "What is the permitted level of drugs for driving?" Answer: none — zero tolerance, any detectable amount is an offence. This contrasts deliberately with the numeric alcohol limits.
Notice the pattern: the question tells you who the driver is or what is being measured, and you map it to a number. Get comfortable switching between blood and breath, and you will answer every alcohol question in seconds.
How to drill this in the app
Alcohol limits are pure recall, which makes them perfect for spaced practice. The mistake most candidates make is reading the numbers once and assuming they will stick — then on exam day they hesitate between 0.15 and 0.25, or fall for the 0.2 trap. The fix is repetition until the four tiers are automatic. Work through batches of alcohol and drug questions, mark the ones where you paused, and let the adaptive practice resurface them until they feel obvious. When you can answer the four examples above without thinking, this topic will never cost you a mark.