More than 36,000 drivers in Alicante province were penalised with points deducted from their licences in 2024.
Alicante ended 2024 with 36,397 drivers sanctioned with the loss of licence points, according to the annual file of final penalties published by Spain’s Directorate-General for Traffic, the DGT.
The province ranked seventh in Spain for the number of offending drivers, behind only Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Girona, Valencia and Cádiz.
The figures do not refer to ordinary fines. They cover confirmed traffic penalties that led to points being deducted from driving licences, broken down by month, type of offence, number of points lost, age, sex, sanctioning authority and province of processing.
Speeding remains the biggest problem
Speeding was the most common offence among Alicante drivers, with 13,403 motorists penalised. That represents 36.8% of the provincial total.
The next largest category was listed as “other” offences, with 11,494 cases, followed by drink-driving, with 4,415 drivers sanctioned.
Mobile phone use while driving was also a major factor, with 4,138 offenders, while 2,775 drivers were penalised for offences involving seat belts or other safety devices.
Helmet-related offences were far less common, with 172 drivers sanctioned.
Men account for most sanctions
The majority of sanctioned drivers in Alicante were men. According to the DGT figures, 25,709 of those penalised were male, compared with 8,123 women. A further 2,565 cases were listed with unknown sex in the data file.
By age group, drivers aged 35 to 44 recorded the highest number of sanctions, with 8,121 offenders.
They were followed closely by drivers aged 45 to 54, with 7,676 cases, and those aged 25 to 34, with 7,585.
More than 142,000 points deducted
In total, penalties processed in Alicante province led to the deduction of 142,688 driving licence points.
Most cases involved the loss of four points, followed by offences carrying penalties of two and six points.
Local councils processed 17,371 of the sanctions, while the DGT handled 19,026.
The split shows that the problem is not limited to interurban roads. Municipal enforcement inside towns and cities also plays a major role in the province’s traffic penalty figures.
Although Alicante does not lead the national ranking, the scale of the data paints a clear picture: speeding, alcohol and mobile phone use remain the three main road safety challenges facing the province.
