Windshielding or windshielding action consists of placing brochures or flyers in the car windshield. An activity that, to this day, continues to be carried out as we can see in our daily lives. In addition to being a nuisance for drivers, it generally requires the manipulation of an element of our private vehicle such as windshield wipers. Is this legal or illegal?
Is it legal to leave advertising on car windshields in Spain? As we have been able to deduce, it depends on the area, city or province, so it is not always legal to do so and even with municipal regulations in hand, their legislation is not always so clear.
Windshield Advertising Regulations
More than half of car owners in Spain park on the street. The usual thing is that, when returning to the car, we find advertising of all kinds. “We buy your car”, “we buy your flat”, “we are moving”, etc. The permission to distribute this type of brochures in cars is usually processed through the town halls. It is your responsibility to understand that the vehicle parked on public roads is one more element of it.
Although it is the municipalities that regulate whether or not it is allowed, there are some national guidelines. In the first place, we can take a state regulation that marks the regulation on advertising: Law 34/1988, of November 11, General Advertising. It clearly expresses that the windshield is not allowed.
“Article 2. Unauthorized means of advertising expression. c) Distribution or delivery on public roads of brochures, advertisements, stickers or any other kind of advertising product. 2. Advertising in any type of vehicle or trailer, in circulation or parked, is prohibited, except that carried out in vehicles used for public passenger transport”. This regulation may also have an exception if the advertisers are non-profit entities.
In addition, it includes in its fourth article where it is not allowed and mainly refers to historical sites or assets declared of cultural interest. In any case, whether or not the placement of advertising on the windshields in a town hall is consented to, the law says:
“4. The immediate precautionary withdrawal of advertising that violates the principles established in article 3 of Law 34/1988, of November 11, General Advertising, may be ordered, regardless of the sanctioning procedures and other actions processed by the bodies. competent in the matter of publicity”.
This is for example the case of Alcala de Henares in Madrid. Because it is a world heritage site and to favor the conservation of historical monuments, it is not allowed to put up posters or place brochures on the windshields of cars.
As much as they annoy, it is an uncivil act and the driver’s complete responsibility to throw them on public roads to get rid of them. The fact of throw these papers on the ground It may seem like an innocent gesture, but if a policeman appears in the area, the driver could be penalized with a fine of 120 euros. Cities like Madrid have raised these sanctions even more in their last campaign, with up to 2,001 euros for littering.
For example, the Ibiza Town Hall imposed at the end of February 2016 three fines of 601 euros each (1,803 euros in total) under Article 10 of the advertising ordinance, which prohibits placing advertising on the windshields of several parked vehicles.