While Germany’s government is still firmly under the control of the automobile lobby, and refuses to implement a general speed limit at all on the Autobahn, the Spanish government is introducing a speed limit of 80 km/hr on its dual carriageways and open roads (and 40 km/hr in towns). I understand that motorways, which have a speed limit of 120 would not affected.
The reductions were announced as part of a package of measures to cut Spain’s energy bill. Also included in the package is the removal of restrictions on commercial flight in military airspace, which will reduce flight times and save fuel.
I think 80 is a bit low, but we noticed that we got much better fuel consumption on our recent holiday run from Frankfurt down to Valencia and back when we kept to a maximum speed of 130 km/hr at all times, and I wouldn’t have any problem with a general limit in Germany of 120 or 130 km/hr. Fines for speeding in Spain are fairly heavy, by the way, starting at 100 Euro if you are 11 km/hr over the speed limit, so the speed limits are likely to be effective.
