228 people died on the roads in July and August, 15 fewer than last summer
For the first time in ten years the number of deaths on motorbikes has fallen, according to the balance of the DGT's summer operation
A total of 228 people have died on Spanish roads during the months of July and August, 15 fewer deaths (a decrease of six per cent) compared to the summer of last year, according to the provisional balance of the 2025 summer operation by the DGT, presented on Wednesday by the minister of the interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, at an event held at the organisation’s headquarters. The report points out that in a context of greater mobility (2.77 per cent more) with a record number of more than 100 million journeys, the reduction in road accidents has been generalised, regardless of the type of road or means of travel.
The report shows that the accident rate for motorcyclists has stabilised after a decade of upward trend (72 deaths, four less than in the summer of 2024), but the percentage of people killed in cars or vans who were not wearing seat belts has risen slightly (27 per cent compared to 25.7 last year). Moreover, during four days this summer no one died in road traffic accidents, in contrast with last year, when there was not a single day without fatalities. Running off the road remains the leading cause of fatal accidents, followed by head-on collisions. The accidents also left 949 people injured, 22 fewer than in the same period the previous year.
"The reduction in road deaths in a period in which there is an absolute record number of road journeys is encouraging," said Grande-Marlaska, although he added that the number of deaths "is still too high and we cannot afford these figures". "In terms of road safety," added the minister, "we never allow ourselves to lower our guard". "Over the past two months, 3.7 people lost their lives on average every day on our roads, which is more than enough reason for us to maintain all precautions and continue working on policies that allow us to consolidate these downward trends in road deaths," he said.
Fewer motorcyclists killed
The road accident rate during the summer of 2025 has shown a positive trend compared to the summer of 2024. In total, 228 fatalities were recorded, 15 fewer compared with the previous year. This decrease is mainly explained by the significant drop in August, which in 2024 was particularly 'black' with 133 fatalities, compared to 114 this year.
The day with the highest number of fatalities was Sunday 6 July with 11 fatalities; in contrast, on four days this summer no one has died in road traffic accidents. Three of these days were in July (Monday 14, Wednesday 16 and Monday 28) and one in August (Monday 25).
It should also be noted that five people died in one of the accidents recorded this summer in Sisante (Cuenca), something that had not happened since the summer of 2014.
There were 55 fatalities on motorways and dual carriageways, nine fewer than in the same period in 2024, while on conventional roads, where the highest number of fatalities occurred, 173 people died, six fewer than in the previous year. The statistics, in this sense, remain unchanged with most fatalities (70 per cent) on conventional roads and 30 per cent on fast roads.
Casualties among vulnerable road users (motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians) also fell, with 101 fatalities compared to 117 last summer. Among them, 20 pedestrians lost their lives (four fewer), nine cyclists (seven fewer) and 72 motorcyclists (four fewer). This stabilises the general trend in the number of motorcyclists killed in summer. Since 2014, the number of fatalities in the summer months had been rising, reaching 76 in 2024. In 2025, the figure remains stable at 72. “Motorcyclists remain a major concern for us, because although the upward trend has been broken, there are still more than one death per day, and although they make up 15 per cent of the vehicle fleet, they account for 27 per cent of fatalities,” said Marlaska. Two of the motorcyclists who died were not wearing helmets.
Of the 20 pedestrians killed (one in ten fatalities in summer traffic accidents was a pedestrian), 11 were in accidents on conventional roads and nine were on motorways and dual carriageways, where pedestrian access is restricted except in exceptional cases. Visibility is again a determining factor: nine pedestrians were killed at night or in low light conditions (twilight) and seven of them were not wearing reflective clothing.
27 per cent without seat belts
In addition, 29 out of 107 fatalities in cars or vans were not wearing seat belts (27.1 per cent), compared to 27 out of 105 in 2024 (25.7 per cent), an increase of one and a half points. As is usually done in reviews of previous years, where this percentage never falls below 25 per cent, Marlaska reiterated that “it is difficult to understand because they could have saved their lives by wearing the device.” In this regard, the director general of traffic, Pere Navarro, added that “there will come a time when only those not wearing a seat belt will die”.
In terms of age, the DGT's balance sheet shows that deaths fell in all age groups except 25-34 years, where the number of fatalities increased to 38, nine more than in 2024.
In terms of the location of the accident, Andalucía is the autonomous community with the highest number of fatalities (47, 21 per cent of the total), followed by Castile and Leon with 32 fatalities (14 per cent). The greatest variations with respect to 2024 occurred in the Valencia and Murcia regions, with 14 and 9 fewer fatalities respectively.
Fires
During the presentation of the summer accident figures, the minister said that the forest fires that have affected several areas of the country have been the protagonists of the summer, which has conditioned traffic and the actions of the Guardia Civil and the DGT because it forced adjustments to be made to respond to the urgency represented by the forest fires.
Among the services carried out by the Guardia Civil's traffic group are 298 access controls to the areas affected by the forest fires, 56 on main roads and 242 on conventional roads, with deployments at key points to restrict access to emergency vehicles only, as well as 184 road closures and the activation of alternative routes to facilitate circulation and avoid the affected areas. In addition, the officers have provided escorts to twelve European contingents that have collaborated in extinguishing and supporting the emergency tasks.
This deployment involved 3,214 members of the Guardia Civil's traffic group from the sectors of Galicia, Castilla y León and Extremadura, who were supported by members of the detachments in neighbouring provinces to carry out a total of 2,170 services. Marlaska took the opportunity to congratulate all the officers for their work.
Marlaska urges swift action on alcohol limit reduction
Just over a year ago, the minister of interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, announced the government's intention to reduce the legal drink-driving limit to 0.1 mg per litre of exhaled air -equivalent to 0.2 grams per litre of blood- as a key measure to reduce road accidents. This new rate, which is practically equivalent to not drinking anything (a single beer would be positive) is still under discussion in Congress, and everything indicates that it will not enter into force until the end of the year or the beginning of 2026. This delay does not seem to please the interior minister. "There is no excuse for delaying the implementation of this measure. I hope that it will come into force in 2025," said the politician at the presentation of the traffic balance of operation summer. During the event he took the opportunity to launch an appeal to parliament in this regard, "because it cannot be postponed". In his opinion, reducing the rate of alcohol at the wheel "is a matter of public health and responsibility, and we all have a responsibility to make it a reality now", he stressed.
