Well, I have just got back from another 12 day jaunt down to the Algarve. I was not going to do a diary as I have already done one for this trip. BUT I just felt I had to post these pics.
They were taken last Sunday (13/11)… I had come off the ferry late Friday night and it was raining … bad enough that I only went as far as Mont St Michel. Saturday morning it was still raining. Down to Irun. Sunday morning it was STILL raining and I was beginning to think I had my own personal black cloud following me (it turned out I did).
I climbed Miguels Mountain heading for Madrid and spotted white tops where there hadn’t been white tops the previous week
I picked up the Vittoria-Burgos Motorway (it was still raining) and suddenly I thought “Why is that gritter coming towards me? … why are they out?” Five minutes later, I went into this!!
and it got worse
CLIMBING THE SOMASIERRA
This was only 90 kms above Madrid where the weather was like this
Yes, I got the Devil in me on Sunday and went straight through the middle of Madrid instead of using the ring road
Nothing else exciting happened on the trip apart from me losing my proud record of having NEVER paid a penny to those corrupt Muppets that call themselves Police in Europe!
I got stopped down in Murcia Friday morning … was told there was nothing wrong with my charts YET they still fined me an extornionate amount for a minor technicality with the charts GRRRRRRRR and I mean an extortionate amount.
A letter has been typed and translated already and I shall be phoning the Spanish Embassy in London tomorrow morning
nice one mate i was parked up in somosierra for a few days earlier this year so it brought back memories i haldly saw any brits just manno and carrs and not many of them
DAFMAD:
:? Stopped in Murcia ? was that the region or city ? whereabouts please. That must be a little unusual.
I was just coming away from Santomera and onto the A7 at Junction 82…they stopped me initially for a weigh check but never got round to weighing me
My tacho clock was slow and thats what they fined me for… it had been slow for 6 days but that didn’t matter according to them. So just before Xmas I was relieved of €1,500. So just to pee them off, I paid it there and then and asked for a discount which I never got
The amount you were fined i think was extortionate, HOWEVER, it is clearly the drivers responsibility to see that the tacho clock shows the correct time… & seemingly you had been aware it was wrong, without bothering to correct it, for 6 days
Driveroneuk:
The amount you were fined i think was extortionate, HOWEVER, it is clearly the drivers responsibility to see that the tacho clock shows the correct time… & seemingly you had been aware it was wrong, without bothering to correct it, for 6 days
Because I leave my tacho in for 24 hours or thereabouts over the water, DUK … so if I had changed the clock, it would have mucked up the whole sequence of them. They never fined me for any infringements!!! Just the clock being wrong. Was gonna change it when back in the UK and on a weekly rest.
How slow was your tacho?
The fines in Spain seem to be extortionate, We went to Jerez last month and one of the other teams trucks was stopped, and they got fined 3000 euro because they forgot to change the cards over when they changed drivers. Their fault agreed and stupid mistake, but it was a mistake and not trying to drive over hours.
Is there any way of getting some of the money back at a later date? Or maybe they could spend it on the roads, the bouncing about rattled one of our headlight loose and blew the bulb. Suppose we would have got a massive fine for that is we’d been stopped.
this might be a daft question but if you go over the water and theres a time difference, should you alter the clock to be right, once your off the ferry or is that an offence?
paul b:
this might be a daft question but if you go over the water and theres a time difference, should you alter the clock to be right, once your off the ferry or is that an offence?
The clock should be set to the time of the country that it works out of. UK in this instance.
paul b:
this might be a daft question but if you go over the water and theres a time difference, should you alter the clock to be right, once your off the ferry or is that an offence?
The clock should be set to the time of the country that it works out of. UK in this instance.
I carry a laminated card quoting this bit of the regulations in several languages and it has helped me avoid a confrontation when a copper has tried to say that my tacho clock is wrong, by one hour. Usually a French or Spanish copper and they don’t pursue it any further after I produce the card.
Stopped in Murcia ? was that the region or city ? whereabouts please. That must be a little unusual. 
