A letter. The E. thus, in capital letters. And a fine. Capital for some if we consider that it is about paying 200 euros for covering a letter. Because that is the sanction that those who cover in Catalonia are receiving the letter E of the registration of their cars. The same that identifies the plaque with Spain.
A lyric. And what lyric is it? The E. of “Spain”, “State” and “confrontation”, to give only some examples. At least for those who consider that this letter in their enrollment is an act of submission to the Spanish State and, therefore, is a cause for political confrontation.
That letter that some Catalan independence disappears from their tuition to replace it with the CAT letters, next to a SENYERAas a political claim or small subversive act before what they consider the submission of Spain in the region.
It is not new. The confidential collects the return of this way of acting by some Catalan independence. But this act of protest is not much less new. At the end of 2024a Catalan was fined for this reason, when considering the Mossos d’Esquadra that had manipulated the registration, which is considered a serious infraction that entails a sanction of 200 euros.
But these attempts to replace the license plates either since then. Already in the last decade You can find some publications that point out this way of acting by some drivers. In some yes the European Union flag was maintained. However, it has been in the last two and three years in which the most noise has been generated.
The Galician case. But it has been in the last three years when the phenomenon has taken special relevance. In 2024 a driver complained in social networks of having received the aforementioned fine. In the answers there were those who assured that carrying the CAT on the registration was not illegal.
The origin must be found in Galicia. There, Bieito Lobeira, Secretary of Organization of the Galician Independence Party BNG, was fined for covering the E of Spain by a GZ in reference to “Galiza”. After various resources, Lobeira won the procedure because it was pointed out that the small modification did not prevent the correct reading of the registration.
To this are grabbed those who act in this way, such as David Miñana (ANC leader) either Jordi Cabré (writer). The matter is slippery because in article 49.4 of the General Vehicle Regulations the following is specified:
“It is prohibited that the registration plates be placed, registered or painted ornaments, signs or other characters other than those indicated in Annex XVIII, including advertising inside them (…) It is prohibited that in the anterior and posterior parts of the vehicles they will be placed unauthorized complementary plates or fix or paint marks or distinctive marks or distinctive Difficult readability or may induce confusion with the regulatory characters of the registration plates “
However, in the Traffic Law, where the serious sanctions (200 euros) are reflected, it is specified that the following compliance is sanctioned:
“Failure to comply with the obligation of any driver to verify that vehicle registration plates do not present obstacles that prevent or hinder their reading and identification”
Lobeira won when the judge understood that he took part in his appeal that the GZ letters did not prevent or hindered the reading and identification of the registration.
25 years. In the newspaper AraThey point out that this fight for the letters of the registration has been living for a quarter of a century. In 2000, the Spanish registration plates changed. They adapted to the obligation to carry the letter E and the flag of the European Union for the identification of a vehicle outside the country of origin.
However, the government of José María Aznar also eliminated the references that existed to the regions. Before the year 2000, Spanish registrations were made up of one or two letters that referred to the province, four numbers and two additional letters. Already then The nationalist parties and the United Left complained about the absence of the autonomic badges.
Already at that time some media and independence groups they encouraged this little protest actiondistributing stickers to incorporate into registrations.
And in Europe? The truth is that in Europe there is a good handful of countries that have maintained regional badges despite having to change the registration plates to adapt to European regulations. In France, in Germany or in Italy Shields, letters or any other badge that specifies the region of origin of a vehicle are maintained.
Photo | Wikinight2 Logan Armstrong and Oriol20
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