An often confusing aspect for drivers in Spain is the appearance of a coloured rectangle on the windscreen of cars. That sticker corresponds to the Inspección Técnica de Vehículos, or ITV for short, which displays that fact that the vehicle has passed a periodic and mandatory test of roadworthiness.
The sticker is placed on the windscreen of cars and is regulated by Royal Decree, which states that “vehicles that have favourably passed the periodic test shall display in a conspicuous place a distinctive, which date indicate they must pass the next inspection”.
Anybody who has been for one of these inspections will known that it is much like the equivalent of the M.O.T. in the U.K., albeit with different qualifying criteria, but on passing the test the vehicle´s documents are updated, and the sticker given to be displayed on the windscreen.
As for where the sticker is displayed, that too is dictated by law, and it Is mandatory to place it in the upper right corner of the windscreen as you are looking out, affixed to the inside, so that the sticker can be clearly observed from the outside of the vehicle, where it will subsequently be displayed in the upper left hand side.
A common question relating to this sticker is whether old ones have to remain as time goes by. The simple answer being that as the sticker is used to indicate the date of the next required test, then the answer has to be “no”, only the current and valid sticker should be present.
There is a fine for not displaying the sticker correctly, with the driver possibly becoming liable to a fine, but simply ensuring the sticker is in the right place, and valid, can avoid a lot of undue hassle during routine vehicle checks.
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