A SOZZLED school bus driver was nine times over the drink-drive limit and had soiled his seat, with colleagues only discovering him minutes after the last pupils got off.
The bus had been serving several schools in Benalmadena. It finished dropping off pupils in the town at 5 pm on September 11 and reached the operator’s depot in Malaga city at around 5.20 pm.
Staff at the depot noticed the bus was turning and accelerating erratically, and the driver was told to stop before he hit several parked vehicles.
A colleague then climbed aboard and found him drunk. The driver had also urinated and defecated inside the bus.
The company then called the police.
The driver agreed to a breath test and was taken to the force’s accident investigation unit.
He was not arrested. He was instead summoned to a fast-track trial. The case only came to light on Wednesday, five days after the incident.
The company involved has not been named.
The reading puts the driver well into criminal territory. Under Article 379 of Spain’s Penal Code, anyone driving with more than 0.60mg per litre of exhaled alcohol faces three to six months in prison, a fine of six to 12 months or 31 to 90 days of community service, plus a driving ban of more than one year and up to four.
In practice, courts usually give first-time offenders with no accident a fine and a licence ban, and keep prison for repeat offenders, very high readings or aggravating factors, according to Spanish legal experts Altaley.
Professional drivers face a stricter limit than everyone else. Spain’s DGT traffic authority sets the maximum at 0.25mg per litre of exhaled air for ordinary drivers and 0.15mg for professionals.
A proposed nationwide cut has stalled. Congress rejected the DGT’s plan to lower the general limit to 0.2g per litre of blood on March 18, 2026, leaving the existing limits in place.
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