Overview
- Roughly 3,000 V‑16 activations are recorded each day in early January and authorities have not begun issuing fines, with Interior pledging a reasonable adaptation period.
- The Guardia Civil reports cases of unauthorized tow operators exploiting V‑16 location data or public activation maps to reach incidents first, typically billing victims about €170–€300, so drivers are urged to verify the tow sent by their insurer.
- Traffic authorities and the Guardia Civil are reinforcing cybersecurity so only authorized emergency services can access beacon coordinates.
- Spain’s data protection regulator says the beacon transmits location and a device identifier not linked to a person and does not create movement histories.
- The DGT has withdrawn homologation for four models for administrative reasons; consumer advocates report previously purchased units that meet technical specs can still be used.