DGT temporarily assumes traffic sanctioning authority in Ladrillar

The Provincial Traffic Headquarters of Cáceres has resolved to temporarily assume sanctioning authority for infractions of traffic regulations, motor vehicle circulation and road safety committed on the urban roads of the Ladrillar City Council, an Extremadura municipality that has thus temporarily lost the capacity to impose sanctions within its own urban area. The resolution, signed on January 29, 2026 by the Provincial Traffic Chief of Cáceres, Cristina Redondo Sánchez, was published on August 17, 2026 in the Official Gazette of the Province of Cáceres, issue number 0156, in Section III – State Administration, with official reference CVE: BOP-2026-3890.

The starting point of this action was the request that the mayor of Ladrillar submitted to the Provincial Traffic Headquarters of Cáceres on August 4, 2026, in which he requested the assumption of municipal sanctioning powers on the grounds that municipal services were insufficient to exercise them. The administrative resolution supports the request upon confirming that the reasons alleged by the mayor are present.

Legal framework: Article 84 of Royal Legislative Decree 6/2015

The legal basis for the delegation is found in Article 84 of Royal Legislative Decree 6/2015, of October 30, which approves the consolidated text of the Law on Traffic, Motor Vehicle Circulation and Road Safety. This provision establishes two fundamental rules:

• In its paragraph 4, it attributes to Mayors the sanctioning of infractions of circulation regulations committed on urban roads, without prejudice to their power to delegate this authority in accordance with applicable regulations.
• In its paragraph 5, it provides that Provincial Traffic Chiefs will assume the authority of Mayors “when, for justified reasons or due to insufficiency of municipal services, it cannot be exercised by them.”

Expressly excluded from municipal sanctioning authority, and therefore not transferred, are infractions relating to the provisions of Title IV of the aforementioned consolidated text, which include those concerning the technical conditions of vehicles and compulsory insurance.

Scope and duration of the assumption

The resolution published in the Cáceres Official Gazette specifies that the assumption of sanctioning authority is temporary in nature and will be maintained as long as the reasons set forth by the mayor persist and municipal services continue to be insufficient. It is not, therefore, a permanent transfer but rather a subsidiary intervention by the State that may be reversed as soon as the municipality recovers operational capacity.

Creation of a monitoring committee

To ensure the effectiveness of sanctioning procedures, the resolution orders the establishment of a commission made up of:

• Representatives of the Ladrillar City Council.
• Representatives of the Provincial Traffic Headquarters of Cáceres.

The commission’s function will be to supervise the processing of the procedures at all stages, from initiation to resolution, in order to ensure both the legality of the actions and the protection of the rights of citizens affected by the infractions.

Relevance of the case

The Ladrillar case illustrates a situation that, although exceptional, is not uncommon in Spanish local administration: small municipalities that lack sufficient staff or resources to assume functions that the law assigns to them. The transfer of traffic sanctioning powers to the DGT is the legal tool that makes it possible to avoid the impunity of road infractions in these areas, but it also means that residents will have their sanctioning files processed by a state body other than the city council.

Source: Official Gazette of the Province of Cáceres, number 0156, August 17, 2026, Section III – State Administration (official reference: CVE: BOP-2026-3890).