Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs can lead to administrative sanctions or criminal consequences in Catalonia in the most serious cases. The difference lies in the detected rate, in the impact on driving, and also in whether the driver refuses or not to undergo the tests.
Administrative sanctions in the less serious cases
An important part of the files for driving after consuming alcohol or drugs is processed through the administrative route, with an economic fine and loss of license points. Exceeding the administrative alcohol limit can entail, in general, a sanction of 500 euros and the withdrawal of 4 points, or of 1,000 euros and 6 points.
In the case of drugs, the usual penalty in the administrative sphere is higher. Driving having consumed narcotic substances is punished, as a general rule, with 1,000 euros and the loss of 6 points.
When the Penal Code comes into play
The Penal Code reserves the criminal route for the most serious cases. Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs is punished, as well as exceeding certain blood alcohol levels.
The penal barrier is set at more than 0.60 milligrams per liter of exhaled air or 1.2 grams per liter in blood. In these cases, the foreseen penalty is imprisonment from 3 to 6 months, or a fine from 6 to 12 months, or community service. To this is added the withdrawal of the driving license for a period of 1 to 4 years.
Refusing the test is also a crime
The refusal to undergo the alcohol or drug test is not resolved through administrative channels. Refusing the control constitutes a crime and can entail a prison sentence of 6 months to 1 year, in addition to the deprivation of the right to drive between 1 and 4 years.
In this way, the regulations distinguish between administrative infractions, which are punished with a fine and loss of points, and acts that due to their seriousness pass to the criminal sphere, with possible prison sentences, economic sanction or community service, in addition to the withdrawal of the license.