Madrid has a problem with some of its most profitable radars: there are those who destroy them. The situation has become so worrying that the Civil Guard itself is asking for specific surveillance to control the acts of vandalism that, for more than a year, have been repeated in the community.
The problem. Cabin radars at key points such as the M-607 or the M-505 are being vandalized more frequently than usual. From using white paint to “blind” them to destroying them with stones or even inserting objects inside them after breaking the glass to cover their cameras.
The figures. Some of these radars, such as the fixed one on the M-607 that limits a section of the highway to 80km/h, have been repaired only to be vandalized again the next day. In the case of one of the radars located on the M-505, between Galapagar and El Escorial, it suffered damage before even being fined. A year and a half after its assembly, it has not been able to start fining.
“They repaired it and the next day they destroyed it again by putting a traffic signal pole inside.” “AUGC (Unified Association of the Civil Guard)”.
Repair the damage of a fixed speedometer ascends about 70,000 euros (67,000 for a fixed radar and 66,000 for a section radar). The very high cost, according to the DGT, is due to the amount of technology they incorporate: character recognition system, synchronization with GPS satellites, laser illumination cameras, etc.
The consequences. According to articles 263 to 267 of the Penal Code, those who cause damage to public property can face prison sentences of one to three years. There are already those who have been arrested for breaking a radar and have had to end up asking for donations on Facebook to meet the damages claimed.
nothing new. there are those He destroyed three radars in Malagaat the beginning of the year the DGT investigated the vandalization of seven othersand newly installed radars such as the one on the Granada ring road lasted just three months without sabotage.
Although the DGT assures that radars are an active safety measure for drivers, at the end of 2025 the collection record was broken, with nearly 540 million euros in penalties for fixed, section, mobile, velolaser and radars captured by Pegasus helicopters, among others.
The performance. Given the drama of the destroyed radars, the Civil Guard requests additional surveillance. In this type of situation, the DGT reinforces the number of agents from the Traffic Group of the Civil Guard and those from Citizen Security for surveillance in the most conflictive points.
The less formal nuance: it is not so easy to prosecute this type of crime without constant surveillance, and even more so considering that there are nearly 4,000 speed radars installed in Spain.
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