Paying a parking ticket in Santiago

[Stephan the Painter]

This is barely a Camino question, but I think it qualifies…
After my last Camino I rented a car to do some further traveling in Northern Spain. Unbeknownst to me I got a parking ticket (or two) in Santiago. I never saw a ticket, they just sent it to the rental agency.

The rental car company charged me an administration fee, but never sent me the information about the ticket until a couple weeks ago, after I badgered them repeatedly. They claimed the municipality would send me the ticket, which has never happened.

So finally I have a digital copy. And there's a website listed to pay:

http://pagos.santiagodecompostela.gal/

But when I go to that website, it seems to me that I can only pay it if I have an account at one of a group of listed Spanish banks? I'm using machine translation, and I wonder if anybody with a better understanding is willing to take a look and tell me if there's any other way to pay it? I do have a Euro WISE account...

Or translate the ticket better for me so I know what I have to do. Is it one ticket? Two? €30? €60? Or best, someone in Santiago familiar with how to pay parking tickets?
Thanks.

( Update: It turns out there was a way to pay it by any card if you read the instructions carefully enough on the website. But it looks like there was a cut-off date when you could pay this fine by bank. It says so right on the ticket. Unfortunately, I didn't even get the paperwork until months after the cut off date.

Three people including me, tried to pay it, one with a Spanish bank card, but it wouldn't accept payment.)

I enclosed the correspondence:

 

[henrythedog]

It’s one fine. The top copy is for you the second for the institution through which you pay (like a bank paying-in slip).

The fine is €60, but you seem to get a 50% discount - which may be time limited.

How you pay is beyond me.

Good luck.

 

[Roland49]

In Spain you could scan the barcode to your banking-app (given an account at the mentioned banks) and all relevant informations would be transferred. After that you release the payment via bank-transfer.

I don't know why they are not listing the iban-informations needed to pay via a foreign banking-system.

Just an idea: the car rental company could pay for you and charge the amount on your creditcard.

 

[Molly Cassidy]

You need to go to pagos.santiagodecompostela.gal there you should find options for how to pay online.

 

[Stephan the Painter]

I don't know why they are not listing the iban-informations needed to pay via a foreign banking-system.

Just an idea: the car rental company could pay for you and charge the amount on your creditcard.

It seems absurd that there’s no IBAN number listed. Surely I can’t be the only foreigner to have ever gotten a parking ticket in Santiago!

The car rental place seemed remarkably uncooperative. But it’s worth a try.

It also gave me the idea to find an email for the council of santiago and attach the ticket and just ask them what to do. There must be a mechanism to do this.

Although I’ll wait a little while, maybe someone here will come up with the answer…

Also, Thanks @henrythedog

 

[Stephan the Painter]

You need to go to pagos.santiagodecompostela.gal there you should find options for how to pay online.

I had already done ( see original post) that before I posted. The only option I can find there is to pay if I have a Spanish bank. Do you find anything different?

 

[Molly Cassidy]

No, it seems to pay online you need to have an account with one of those banks. I suspect in Spain you can take the form to any bank and pay. That was what I had to do to get my residence permit.

 

[peregrina2000]

Just an idea: the car rental company could pay for you and charge the amount on your creditcard.

I was actually surprised that the rental company didn’t just pay it and send a bill, because in the US they get a pretty hefty fee for doing it.

But some research on Spanish parking tickets brought up an article that seems to confirm that what happened to @Stephan the Painter is standard procedure, not only in Spain but in the EU generally.

Maybe a forum member with some time to kill in Santiago will help you out. If seems that it can be paid at an ATM machine in Spain, but of course you’re not there!

 

[Stephan the Painter]

I was actually surprised that the rental company didn’t just pay it and send a bill, because in the US they get a pretty hefty fee for doing it.

But some research on Spanish parking tickets brought up an article that seems to confirm that what happened to @Stephan the Painter is standard procedure, not only in Spain but in the EU generally.

Maybe a forum member with some time to kill in Santiago will help you out. If seems that it can be paid at an ATM machine in Spain, but of course you’re not there!

Yes, they did charge me a 40 Euro administrative fee.

The article you linked to seemed to suggest that it was a viable defense against a traffic fine that because it was sent to me in Spanish I couldn’t read it!

 

[ivar]

@Stephan the Painter I will send you a DM...

 

[Kathor1]

Yes, they did charge me a 40 Euro administrative fee.

Are you sure that these €40 are merely an administrative fee (for what exactly?). Are you sure that they did not pay your fine of €30 Euro and charged you €10 as administrative fee?

The website http://pagos.santiagodecompostela.gal/ explains in point 3 how to pay by credit card issued by any bank. Click on the button CaixaBank - Pago con tarjeta. However, when I entered the details from your ticket into the online form and clicked on it to get to the payment page I got an error message about a discrepancy between the data I had entered and a "bar code" and I could not continue. Otherwise I might have paid your traffic fine with my credit card out of sheer curiosity . The error message makes me wonder whether the ticket has already been paid.

The article you linked to seemed to suggest that it was a viable defense against a traffic fine that because it was sent to me in Spanish I couldn’t read it!

I think that the background of this article is about drivers from another EU (or perhaps European) country, driving their own car or a rental car in Spain, who get a traffic fine when driving abroad and the fact that for many years it was not possible for the authorities to pursue a foreign driver who did not pay. This changed years ago - there is now cross-border cooperation between the various police forces / administrations and it is no longer so easy to evade paying. I've received several such fines over the years - and these days I make sure that I do pay them. In your case, as there is no such cooperation between Spain and the USA, the rental company may have paid for you.

 

[Corned Beef]

How would they enforce it if it wasn't paid?

Tripadvisor is full of stories about rental drivers picking up tickets and not being able to pay - so they didn't. Fast forward a year or so and nothing ever happens.

 

[Kathor1]

How would they enforce it if it wasn't paid?

Tripadvisor is full of stories about rental drivers picking up tickets and not being able to pay - so they didn't. Fast forward a year or so and nothing ever happens.

As mentioned, I would caution any driver who lives in another EU country (and maybe even in the UK) to ignore these days a traffic fine ticket issued by Spanish police. The police / authorities in your own country have now the power to enforce it (at least when the fine is €70 or more) and this can get expensive if you had delayed or ignored payment in a timely manner.

And although I don't know how keen they are - there is theoretically the possibility of entering your data into the EU's SIS database. An alert will appear on the border official's computer screen when your passport gets scanned the next time you want to enter Spain from outside of Schengen.

 

[Kirkie]

How would they enforce it if it wasn't paid?

Tripadvisor is full of stories about rental drivers picking up tickets and not being able to pay - so they didn't. Fast forward a year or so and nothing ever happens.

Oh my God! Corned Beef! Personality change. Please forgive derailment, Stephan!
I hope your pm with Ivar helps you solve it.

 

[Stephan the Painter]

Are you sure that these €40 are merely an administrative fee (for what exactly?). Are you sure that they did not pay your fine of €30 Euro and charged you €10 as administrative fee?

The rental company very specifically said that they had NOT paid it but they had charged me with administrative costs when they notified me.

They also told me that I would get a fine notification in the mail. And they gave me an option to update my address on their website. It was the right address but it was written in the European order and maybe it never got here. It may have confused the US post office.

And maybe if they got the letter back, they just wrote it off, which is why you couldn’t find it in the system.

One can hope!

I would definitely prefer to pay the fine and not have any legal issues with Spain. Thank you for the information.

How would they enforce it if it wasn't paid?

I’m sure they could not enforce it. Extradite me!

I don’t know what happens in Spain, but in the US these things stay on your record and if you ever have another interaction with the police you are listed as owing a court judgment. And it usually get larger as time goes on. Eventually they will suspend your drivers license.

Obviously, Spain can’t do that to me in the US. But I wonder if I’m driving in Spain again and get stopped by the police, if it would become a problem? Or if it’s in the system and the car rental companies would hold it against me?

I don’t know if it’ll ever become a problem, but I’ll do my best to pay it if possible.

 

[Rebekah Scott]

Send me the 60 euro and I will go to my bank (Santander) and pay it for you there.

 

[wisepilgrim]

If this has not been paid yet, let me know. I reckon I can scan that code from my banking app.

 

[Corned Beef]

As mentioned, I would caution any driver who lives in another EU country (and maybe even in the UK) to ignore these days a traffic fine ticket issued by Spanish police. The police / authorities in your own country have now the power to enforce it (at least when the fine is €70 or more) and this can get expensive if you had delayed or ignored payment in a timely manner.

I'd be quite interested to have feedback on this from those who might not have paid them. Asking for a friend.....

@Kirkie Personality is still the same but have been using an AI graphics programme. New avatar is 'a portrait of pilgrim in the Renaissance style'. Great fun. Try it out.

Renaissance Painting Generator

Generate a renaissance painting.

deepai.org

 

[Nelle]

Have looked into sending an international wire transfer from your bank to one of the Spanish banks listed on thr ticket, and including a reference to your ticket in the wire instructions? I haven’t been ticketed in Spain, but that’s how it works with Italian traffic tickets. Good luck!

 

[Kathor1]

The rental company very specifically said that they had NOT paid it but they had charged me with administrative costs when they notified me. They also told me that I would get a fine notification in the mail.

Thank your for the additional explanation.

I often just like to know how things work - or find out why they don't work . It is really a nuisance that there is no IBAN bank account number on the ticket to make a wire transfer and the only way for you, as someone without a Spanish bank account, is this online procedure for payment by credit card and CaixaBank but it does not work for some reason that I do not understand.

You now have offers to have your parking fine paid by at least three residents in Spain. Lucky you.

 

[Kathy F.]

When I got a ticket, the website was included for payment. They do give you a 50% discount if you pay within a certain time.

 

[RRat]

This is barely a Camino question, but I think it qualifies…

After my last Camino I rented a car to do some further traveling in Northern Spain. Unbeknownst to me I got a parking ticket (or two) in Santiago. I never saw a ticket, they just sent it to the rental agency.

The rental car company charged me an administration fee, but never sent me the information about the ticket until a couple weeks ago, after I badgered them repeatedly. They claimed the municipality would send me the ticket, which has never happened.

So finally I have a digital copy. And there's a website listed to pay:

http://pagos.santiagodecompostela.gal/

But when I go to that website, it seems to me that I can only pay it if I have an account at one of a group of listed Spanish banks? I'm using machine translation, and I wonder if anybody with a better understanding is willing to take a look and tell me if there's any other way to pay it? I do have a Euro WISE account...

Or translate the ticket better for me so I know what I have to do. Is it one ticket? Two? €30? €60? Or best, someone in Santiago familiar with how to pay parking tickets?
Thanks.

I enclosed the correspondence:
View attachment 181675

Unless you plan on return to Spain soon, I would just ignore it. Contest the admistrative fee the rental car company charged to your credit card. I wasn't driving that day. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

 

[Glenshiro]

Tripadvisor is full of stories about rental drivers picking up tickets and not being able to pay - so they didn't. Fast forward a year or so and nothing ever happens.

This may have been the case in the past, but computers have a long memory and if the OP returns to Spain in the future, it may come back to bite him on the arse.

I wasn't driving that day. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

It's a rental car - the renter is liable for all penalties, whether he was driving or not. Not a good idea to lie about it anyway, there may be ANPR evidence of the driver. Honesty usually is the best policy, especially when dealing with unfamiliar jurisdictions.

 

[MariaSP]

You can pay with any debit or credit card, as @Kathor1 explained. I suspect it's not working because the window to pay is over. At the top of the fine it ways "último día de pago entidad bancaria", which means last day to pay at a bank. That day was August 8.

 

[henrythedog]

The ticket categorically states that it’s not necessary to identify the driver - logically enough as it was a parked car. The ticket was actually issued to the rental company and the pass-through to the renter will have been in the rental contract.

The risk of not paying is more that the rental company takes action (and their friendly disposition and flexible attitude to contracts are well known)

 

[RRat]

This may have been the case in the past, but computers have a long memory and if the OP returns to Spain in the future, it may come back to bite him on the arse.



It's a rental car - the renter is liable for all penalties, whether he was driving or not. Not a good idea to lie about it anyway, there may be ANPR evidence of the driver. Honesty usually is the best policy, especially when dealing with unfamiliar jurisdictions.

The rental car company charging the driver an administration fee simply for ratting on the renter. The citation not arriving directly to the renter. Seems like honestly is a bit vague.

 

[henrythedog]

If you do choose to take some of the advice above, of the countries with no extradition treaty with the UK or EU, Ecuador probably has the best year-round climate.

 

[Kathor1]

Ratting, lying, ignoring ... I am not sure whether to call this childish or pathetic.

Let's hold on to the fact that the OP is willing to pay the parking fine of €30. It will go the city administration of Santiago. I think that the majority of people here are willing to comply with contracts that they signed and with the laws of the country that they visit.

The fee of €40 looks high to me but I've not signed nor seen the car rental contract. What the OP describes is normal procedure in EU countries: The renter of the car is responsible for traffic fines. The car rental company either pays the fine directly and deducts it from the deposit or transmits the personal data of the renter so that the renter pays the fine. The car rental company charges a processing fee for this. And a quote: Processing fees are almost always charged for fines and are deducted from the deposit by your car rental company. The amount of the fee is specified in the provider's rental agreement and can vary depending on the country and provider. In some cases, the processing fee may even be higher than the actual fine (€30 in this case).

 

[peregrina2000]

I'd be quite interested to have feedback on this from those who might not have paid them. Asking for a friend.....

I have a friend who used to regularly ignore parking tickets in the EU. I think that was very common practice. I once saw the statistic that more than 95% of Madrid’s parking tickets went unpaid. That was more than 25 years ago and may have been a bit of hyperbole, but the common practice among my Spanish friends was to ignore tickets. I think the culture has changed dramatically.

Whatever the old practices, I think it’s safe to say that if you used to ignore traffic tickets or other fines (I know someone who ignored hospital bills from the camino in the 2010s and was never found), you ought to reconsider. Basic questions of honesty aside, all of the electronic enhancements used by law enforcement means “they” are much more likely to find you and make your life unpleasant. Sort of the same question as whether you should ignore the 90 day limit on the assumption that no one will ever do them math with your fuzzy entrance and exit stamps, when all of that information is being stored on a computer somewhere.

 

[peregrina2000]

The fee of €40 looks high to me

I once was told that I had put a few scratches on a car in Italy (I hadn’t), but even though I had bought the “complete coverage” that cost an arm and a leg, I had to pay an “administrative fee” of 94 €. These amounts bear no relationship to services actually rendered, it’s just a way for the car rental company to make more money.

 

[Glenshiro]

Don't ignore traffic tickets in Switzerland:

My naked Swiss arrest and some questions for Fifa

Having had the privilege of being arrested in a Swiss hotel at dead of night myself, I can perhaps shed some light on what the Fifa suspects are now facing...

www.channel4.com

 

[henrythedog]

fuzzy entrance and exit stamps

It still surprises many that their parking infringements may be recorded electronically in perpetuity, whilst their entry and exit of the Schengen zone is not.

 

[Kathor1]

Don't ignore traffic tickets in Switzerland:
https://www.channel4.com/news/by/jon-snow/blogs/naked-arrested-middle-night-fifa

Wow, seven hours in a cell for an unpaid traffic ticket for only 30 Swiss francs that British TV presenter Jon Snow had received ten years earlier and then a colleague had to come and bring the money. Impressive.

Spain is not Switzerland of course. But with all the hoopla currently about the new Spanish law about the registration of travellers, this got me thinking ... when you hire a car, the car rental company will now have to feed a large set of your personal data into the Interior Ministry's database and when you return to Spain for your next Camino and stay in hotels, hostels and albergues, every one of them will feed a large set of your personal data into the same database ... a new and improved system with some potential ...

 

[Stephan the Painter]

You can pay with any debit or credit card, as @Kathor1 explained. I suspect it's not working because the window to pay is over. At the top of the fine it ways "último día de pago entidad bancaria", which means last day to pay at a bank. That day was August 8.

Now I understand. Thank you.
I did not realize that I could pay with any credit card until now. @Kathor1 told me, but it did not register. I thought it had to be from one of those specific banks.

And It also does indeed say right on the ticket that the last day to pay by bank card was August 14, 2024. I didn't receive this until about two weeks ago.

But I tried to pay it anyway. With a little more careful reading/translation, I figured out how to use my personal card. But I got the same error that @Kathor1 got telling me me that the barcode was incorrect.

I guess I'll have to go back to Santiago to pay it!

Maybe what I will do is write them a brief email, explaining my situation, translate it to Spanish, attach the ticket, and see what they say.

 

[Philtration]

Have looked into sending an international wire transfer from your bank to one of the Spanish banks listed on thr ticket, and including a reference to your ticket in the wire instructions? I haven’t been ticketed in Spain, but that’s how it works with Italian traffic tickets. Good luck!

I checked on using a wire transfer to pay a Spanish hospital bill I received months later. It was going to cost 50 dollars from my bank in the US.

 

[Kathor1]

There is no bank account number, let alone a bank account number in IBAN format, on the parking ticket so bank transfer is not an option for this Santiago parking ticket.

The OP mentions Wise. How much would it cost to make a bank transfer of €30 from the USA to Spain? I've never used Wise but it appears that Wise has more competitive (cheaper) fees than traditional banks?

BTW, the immense advantage of SEPA (Single European Payment Area to which the UK belong, too) is that, as long as you stay in the same currency, i.e. no currency conversion involved, the fees for cross-border bank transfers are the same as for domestic transfers, i.e. usually free of charge.

 

[Stephan the Painter]

The OP mentions Wise. How much would it cost to make a bank transfer of €30 from the USA to Spain? I've never used Wise but it appears that Wise has more competitive (cheaper) fees than traditional banks?

As I understand it, the WISE Euro account is actually an account in Belgium ( for me anyway). The US portion of my WISE account is held at a major American bank. WISE doesn’t seem to have its own bank in the USA.

If you’re using WISE as a US resident, you have a US bank account and an EU bank account. Wise makes its money by charging me for transferring and exchanging the money from US dollars into my Euro account.

It’s a pretty good deal, they just exchange it at the international bank rate and charge .29% as their fee. I.E., So to exchange $100 they charge me 0.29 US cents and the exchange rate is whatever the bank rate is at the moment I make the exchange.

And when I checked they said they charge €0.95 cents to send €60 between Euro accounts. I don’t know if the Spanish bank would also charge me money.

It is a SEPA transfer. Maybe they’re able to charge me a fee because my primary WISE account is in the United States?

It takes a few days to set up a euro account with Wise. If you don’t create a separate EURO account, WISE is just like any other bank and charges hefty fees for transferring money internationally.

But once you have it you can use it to pay and receive money in the EU. I created one because I was receiving payments in euros.

I could also use this account to pay healthcare or other Spanish and EU zone bills. Although the one time I had a hospital bill, which was in Almería, they just emailed me the bill with a link to pay by card anyway. And if I had gotten this in a timely fashion, and understood the situation, I could've just paid it by card as well.

 

[Nelle]

FWIW - if you are in the US and have a Chase account — an international wire transfer is $5 if you DIY at chase.com or $50 if you go to a branch, but they will sometimes waive that fee. I can’t speak for Spain - but there are traffic cameras everywhere in Italy and even if you’re in rental — they will find you!

 

[Barbara]

I pay my French speeding tickets by credit card, and there is quite a short window to do so before the fine magically doubles in size. Though I was lucky with the last one, which was done in a garage loaner. My lovely garage said they didn't know who was driving, and paid the fine (which I repaid to them) so it was just money, no points on my licence.
The French make it very easy to pay such things, can even pay in a tobacconist or at the post office.
Which kind person is actually dealing with yours? You will owe them so much beer!

 

[David61]

I have only committed one traffic offence abroad, motorcycle tour of Germany a few years ago and my friend was in front and we were on a rural road heading uphill when two people jumped out in front of us, one waving a flashing table tennis bat. We went to ride around these madmen but realised they were in uniform and had guns! They directed us to a private driveway, went through our insurance and licences and then told me I had been speeding and would be fined. One officer started entering the details when his colleague said I was English, so he changed my speed to a lower figure. Bit odd. I looked it up later and above a certain speed you have to be taken to the station for processing and the bike has to be secured or removed to a secure location. A lot of trouble for an extra 20 euros so I got the lower fine and expected a form,but no. They produced a machine and took the money then and there by card and kindly gave me a receipt. One officer asked if I wanted to know how they caught me as there was no line of sight and he pointed to the top of a nearby hill where another officer stood with his speed gun and the nice man waved at me! Four policemen and two vehicles for I think 30 euros!

 

[Stephan the Painter]

I pay my French speeding tickets by credit card, and there is quite a short window to do so before the fine magically doubles in size.
The French make it very easy to pay such things, can even pay in a tobacconist or at the post office.
Which kind person is actually dealing with yours? You will owe them so much beer!

Several people tried to help me. Unfortunately it seems the deadline to pay by bank had passed before I even got notification of the citation. It actually says so right on the ticket which no one noticed until @MariaSP pointed it out.

A big thank you to @wisepilgrim and @Kathor1 who tried to pay it and @Rebekah Scott who volunteered.

 

[Barbara]

I have only committed one traffic offence abroad, motorcycle tour of Germany a few years ago and my friend was in front and we were on a rural road heading uphill when two people jumped out in front of us, one waving a flashing table tennis bat. We went to ride around these madmen but realised they were in uniform and had guns! They directed us to a private driveway, went through our insurance and licences and then told me I had been speeding and would be fined. One officer started entering the details when his colleague said I was English, so he changed my speed to a lower figure. Bit odd. I looked it up later and above a certain speed you have to be taken to the station for processing and the bike has to be secured or removed to a secure location. A lot of trouble for an extra 20 euros so I got the lower fine and expected a form,but no. They produced a machine and took the money then and there by card and kindly gave me a receipt. One officer asked if I wanted to know how they caught me as there was no line of sight and he pointed to the top of a nearby hill where another officer stood with his speed gun and the nice man waved at me! Four policemen and two vehicles for I think 30 euros!

That's 30 euros times the number caught. Plus I bet you moderated your speed for a while!

 

[David61]

That's 30 euros times the number caught. Plus I bet you moderated your speed for a while!

As I said we were in a rural road, we hardly saw another vehicle but you are right I did moderate my speed but I should point out I do not speed habitually, honest guv!

 

[Marbe2]

Many years ago in my youth, I occasionally got a parking ticket, before the EU, in Austria while studying there. I was told by staff not to pay them, and was advised by Austrians to throw them away. In the early 21st century, I apparently, got a speeding ticket in France, on some back road near Lourdes that I I received 6 months later from the car rental company. It was for only 60 euros ( I couldn’t have been going very fast). I tried to pay it online but couldn’t! There had already been a charge from the auto rental company who, locally, were not clear as to whether I still owed money. After another 6months, I finally threw the notification in the circular file. That was circa 20 years ago!

 

[Roland49]

Got quoted for speeding in France in 2022 twice, got mail after 40 days, payed the discounted amount (50% = 45€).

Tickets inside the EU are now enforcable throughout the whole EU!