Spanish Oddities
Duke and Duchess of Lugo caught breaking the Highway Code
By h.b.
May 1, 2008 - 7:23 AM

The new Highway Code, both for vehicles and pedestrians, which came into force in Spain last September, can be restrictive on occasions. That is the reason given for an administrative complaint which has been presented in Barcelona City Hall against the Duke and Duchess of Palma.

Doña Cristina de Borbón and her husband, Don Iñaki Urdangarín, together with their four children, are accused of riding their bicycles down the centre of the pavement ‘in a disordered way’. Apparently the complaint has been placed following a report on the Duke and Duchess printed in ‘Hola’ magazine last December which shows them riding on the pavement, and also failing to cycle in line as the new Highway Code demands.

Also, the bikes of two of the children and of the Infanta have no lights or reflectors fitted to them, breaking another requirement of the code. What’s more another photo in the report shows them cycling across a zebra crossing, breaking another part of the code which says that only pedestrians can use such crossings.

The Association for the Defence of the Bicycle says the example goes to show that there has been a latent problem because of the new code in Barcelona.