June has broken the downward trend in the number of road traffic fatalities that had been observed since the beginning of the year, which had predicted a decline in deaths this year. The final month has concluded with 123 fatal accidents on the roads which have claimed 142 lives, representing 52 more than in the same month of 2025. These figures make it the June with the highest mortality of the last 16 years, given that similar data has not been recorded since 2010, according to the Directorate-General for Traffic (DGT).
The figures are very high when compared to the same month of 2025. According to traffic data, an increase has been detected in accidents with multiple victims – especially head-on collisions on conventional roads, with a single lane for each direction of travel – and an accumulation of days with very high mortality. In June, the authorities registered 42.8 million road movements, which is 3% more than in the same month last year.
During the last 30 days, six accidents with three or more deaths have been recorded, which did not occur in 2025. The most serious occurred when five regional police officers from Navarre lost their lives on 3rd June at kilometre point 69.100 of the AP-8, in the municipality of Elgoibar (Gipuzkoa), after the van in which they were travelling collided with a lorry. On 26th June, three people died in a head-on collision between two cars in the Seville town of Castilblanco de los Arroyos.
In addition, there have been three days with 10 or more fatalities, compared to only one in 2025. According to DGT data, the day with the highest number of fatalities was 2nd June, with 12 people losing their lives. Added to this are five days with eight or more fatalities, whilst in June 2025 there was also only one similar day. In both cases, these are the highest values since 2009. Just over the weekend there were 16 fatalities, one of the highest of the whole year.
Conventional roads continue to concentrate the majority of fatal accidents. During June, fatalities increased by 53 compared to the same period last year (111 in 2026 compared to 58 in 2025). Meanwhile, they have been reduced on motorways and dual carriageways by two victims (from 33 to 31).
Run-off-road accidents (24 more fatalities) and head-on collisions (21) were the most common types of fatal accidents recorded during June. Cars are the vehicles that accumulate the most accidents, with 29 more fatalities than in 2025. Between eight in the evening and six in the morning is the time slot in which the most fatal accidents occur. During these hours, 31 of the 51 additional fatalities compared to June 2025 were recorded, which, according to traffic authorities, suggests “a pattern of greater severity of accidents in the night-time slots”.
Another worrying fact is that 19 car drivers and two van drivers suffered fatal accidents without wearing a seatbelt, and one deceased cyclist was not using a helmet.
By autonomous communities, road mortality rose in Catalonia and Castile-La Mancha, with nine more deaths each, and in Andalusia and the Valencian Community, with eight more each. Meanwhile, they fell in Extremadura and Murcia (two fewer) and Galicia (one fewer). According to traffic data, the accidents that explain the increase in fatalities are distributed across 26 provinces and 38 roads, which rules out that this spike in accidents can be attributed to a specific province, road, or corridor. “It is, therefore, a phenomenon widely distributed along the conventional road network,” states the DGT.
“A bucket of cold water”
The Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, showed concern about this increase during the event commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the points-based licence held on Wednesday evening. He described the figure as “a bucket of cold water”, since the conditions and circumstances had not changed that had yielded the drop in fatalities since the beginning of the year. He made a call to lower such a high road accident rate, especially during the summer months. The Special Operation begins tomorrow and will continue until 31 August.
From 1st January and until 30th June, 464 fatal accidents have been recorded on the roads, in which 501 people have died, 19 fewer than in the same period of 2025. It is the third half-year with the lowest number of fatalities in the historical series, except for 2020 and 2021, which were conditioned by the mobility restrictions forced by Covid. In these first six months of 2026, there were 13 days without fatalities on the roads.
Journeys have been rising since the beginning of the year, with a 3% increase compared to last year. The DGT has counted 230 million journeys (7.3 million more than in the first half of 2025).
The Directorate-General for Traffic has the telephone number 018 available to assist victims of road accidents. It offers information, guidance, and support to victims and their relatives. It is free, accessible, with national coverage and is attended in more than 50 languages. It operates between 8.00 and 21.00 every day of the week. Contact can also be made via WhatsApp on the number 645 713 823, by email at victimastrafico@dgt.es or on the DGT website.