The Provincial Court upholds the conviction after rejecting the driver’s argument that her second breathalyser test fell below the 0.60 mg/l criminal threshold.

A woman who lost control of her car and overturned on an Ibiza road while driving under the influence of alcohol has been ordered to pay a €1,800 fine and surrender her driving licence for one year. The Balearic Islands Provincial Court has upheld her conviction after dismissing her appeal against the criminal penalties.

The driver argued that her breathalyser results did not meet the legal threshold for a criminal offence. However, the judge ruled that the clear signs of intoxication she displayed were sufficient to establish that alcohol had impaired her ability to drive.

The incident took place at around 1am on 23 September 2024, at kilometre 4.950 of the EI-651 road in Sant Antoni. The woman, who had no previous criminal record, lost control of her vehicle, veered off the road on the right-hand side and overturned.

When police officers arrived at the scene, they noticed numerous signs that the driver had consumed alcohol. According to the court ruling, her face was pale and sweaty, she smelled of alcohol, her speech was hesitant and she repeatedly made incoherent statements and repeated herself.

She also struggled to maintain her balance, was unable to walk in a straight line and had bloodshot eyes and dilated pupils.

Breathalyser tests recorded 0.69 milligrams of alcohol per litre of exhaled air in the first test and 0.58 mg/l in the second.

In November 2025, Ibiza Criminal Court No. 1 convicted her of driving under the influence of alcohol, imposing a €1,800 fine and a one-year driving ban.

Breathalyser readings are not the only evidence

The woman appealed against the conviction, arguing that there was insufficient evidence to establish a criminal road safety offence.

Her defence maintained that a criminal conviction required a breathalyser reading above 0.60 milligrams of alcohol per litre of exhaled air, a threshold that was not reached in the second test.

However, the Second Section of the Balearic Islands Provincial Court rejected this argument, pointing out that Spain’s Criminal Code recognises two separate forms of drink-driving offences: driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and driving with a blood or breath alcohol level exceeding the legally established limits.

This means that a driver does not necessarily have to exceed the 0.60 mg/l threshold to be convicted, provided there is sufficient evidence that alcohol affected their ability to drive.

The court stressed that the police officer’s testimony, together with the documentation submitted during the proceedings, constituted sufficient evidence to rebut the defendant’s presumption of innocence. It therefore found no error in the way the Ibiza court had assessed the evidence.

Court rejects challenge to the €1,800 fine

Alongside seeking to have her conviction overturned, the driver also challenged the amount of the financial penalty.

Her defence argued that the €1,800 fine was excessive and that the original court had failed to provide sufficient justification for setting it at that level.

The Provincial Court responded that fines must take into account the financial circumstances of the person convicted. However, it clarified that there is no obligation to impose the minimum penalty when there are no circumstances that would justify doing so.

In this case, the ruling states that there was no evidence that the woman was living in extreme poverty or facing particular financial hardship, beyond the fact that her employment contract had ended.

The court therefore concluded that the €1,800 fine was proportionate and fell within the lower range of the penalties provided for by law, leaving the original conviction and sanctions in place.