Valencia’s city council has approved a road safety plan that aims to cut fatal and serious traffic accidents by 50% before the end of the decade. The Plan Director de Seguridad Vial 2026-2030, passed on July 23, sets interim targets of a 20% reduction by 2026, 30% by 2027 and 40% by 2029, measured against current reference levels. The final target covers crashes resulting in death or serious injury, not all traffic incidents.
The plan calls for ten fixed roadside cabins along higher-risk urban corridors, served by six speed cameras that move between locations rather than operate simultaneously. With fewer cameras than cabins, the active enforcement point can change while the housings stay in place, making it harder to predict where cameras are operating. Listed locations include two cabins on Avenida de los Hermanos Machado, plus sites on Maestro Rodrigo, del Cid, Pío XII, López Piñero, Antonio Ferrandis, los Naranjos and Camí Nou de Picanya, as well as the junction of Fernando Abril Martorell and Carrera de Malilla.
The sites were selected using accident data and are generally on major urban roads with speed limits of 50 km/h or below. Rotating the cameras is intended to discourage speeding across the corridors, not just at one permanently active point. The six devices enforce speed limits; Valencia’s system is not described as an artificial-intelligence platform that detects multiple offences at once.
The city’s approach also includes year-round police checks for alcohol and drugs, insurance, vehicle inspection status and distractions such as mobile-phone use and headphones. These roadside controls are separate from automated camera enforcement. Pamplona has been associated with a different class of equipment, described as capable of identifying up to nine types of infringement using artificial intelligence, colour imaging and licence-plate recognition. Reported functions include detecting seat-belt violations, mobile-phone use, red-light violations, prohibited stopping and illegal turns. Those features are not part of Valencia’s rotating speed-camera deployment.
The initiative is managed by local police and runs alongside a separate expansion of Spain’s national traffic authority, the Dirección General de Tráfico (DGT), radar network. A reported national programme added 33 cinemometers, including 20 fixed devices and 13 section-control systems, as part of a wider rollout of 122 control points. Installations cited in the Valencia area include section control on the CV-30 and a fixed radar on the CV-400. These are separate from the city council’s ten urban cabins and six movable cameras.
The plan’s progress will be reviewed quarterly and evaluated annually against its interim targets. Since 2023, Valencia has aligned its serious-injury reporting criteria with those of Spain’s Ministry of the Interior, counting hospital admissions lasting more than 24 hours as serious injuries. That definition matters when comparing crash figures over time and assessing the plan’s stated reduction targets.
To protect vulnerable road users, the city plans to phase out flashing amber lights at certain intersections, install signalized pedestrian crossings, add acoustic alerts and countdown timers, and improve accessibility at public transport stops. The cycling network is also set to expand with more segregated lanes, while existing bike paths on sidewalks are to move onto the roadway. A dedicated police unit patrols bike lanes on scooters, monitoring violations and signage while identifying problem areas.
Information from municipal data from 2025, vulnerable road users, including pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and scooter riders, accounted for 84.6% of traffic fatalities in Valencia. Users of personal mobility vehicles made up 23% of that total. The plan’s infrastructure and enforcement measures target these risks, with particular attention to speed and distraction in urban areas.
For drivers, the changes mean more frequent checks and a greater chance of encountering active speed enforcement on familiar routes. Valencia’s approach reflects a broader focus on road safety in Spain, including discussions of driving practices and penalties such as those explored in this analysis of footwear and fines: why certain driving habits can still lead to hefty penalties.
As Valencia works toward its staged targets, local residents and other Spanish cities seeking to reduce serious road casualties will be watching the rotating cameras and infrastructure changes.
