Catalogue section 3.14
They mark a boundary between territories, or name a town, river, pass or other place.
How to recognise them: A rectangular board with the place name written on it.
Location signs put a name to the place you are passing: a town, a geographic feature the road crosses, a tunnel, the boundary between two territories, or the kilometre point you are at. One of them also changes the rules. S-500 gives the town's name and marks the point from which the rules for built-up areas apply; its upper panel is a reminder to adapt your driving to pedestrians, cyclists and other vulnerable road users, and it may add the speed limit on that road from that point. S-510 marks where those rules stop applying.
The rest help you find your way. S-540 to S-560 mark boundaries: of a province, a region, a river basin district, or a region and province at once. For tunnels there are signs that pair the road type with what they tell you: safety equipment and length (S-530 and S-531), or the duties that apply inside (S-532 and S-533). Markers give the kilometre point; the ten-kilometre markers (S-574 and S-575) only when it is a multiple of ten, and on S-575, for roads outside the state network, in the colour of the road's category.
Signs in this group that look alike, and what separates them according to their definitions.
S-500
S-510S-500 marks the point from which the rules for built-up areas apply and may show the speed limit on that road; S-510 the point from which they stop applying. Both carry the town's name.
S-530
S-532Both name a tunnel on a conventional or multi-lane road. S-530 tells you about its safety equipment and its length; S-532 about the particular duties that apply inside it. S-531 and S-533 are their counterparts on a motorway or autovía.
S-540
S-550
S-560S-540 marks entry into a province, S-550 into a region, and S-560 into a region and a province at the same time.
S-570
S-574aBoth give the kilometre point on a motorway or autovía. The ten-kilometre marker S-574a only shows it when that point is a multiple of ten; S-570 at any kilometre.
S-561
S-562Both give the owner, number and name of the road you are joining. If it has no name, S-561 reads "Carretera" and S-562 "Autopista" or "Autovía", followed by the road's box.
25 signs
S-500
Gives the name of the built-up area you are entering, and the point from which the rules for driving in built-up areas apply. The upper panel reinforces the message that driving must be adapted where pedestrians, cyclists or other vulnerable users are about. The maximum speed allowed on that road from that point may also be given, whatever different limits other roads in the town may carry.
S-510
Gives the name of the built-up area you are leaving, and the point from which the rules for driving in built-up areas stop applying.
S-520
Marks the place where the road crosses a distinctive geographic feature.
S-530
Marks a tunnel on a conventional or multi-lane road, including information about its safety equipment and its length.
S-531
Marks a tunnel on a motorway or dual carriageway, including information about its safety equipment and its length.
S-532
Marks a tunnel on a conventional or multi-lane road, including information about the particular driving duties that apply inside it.
S-533
Marks a tunnel on a motorway or dual carriageway, including information about the particular driving duties that apply inside it.
S-540
Marks the point from which the road enters the province named.
S-550
Marks the point from which the road enters the autonomous community named.
S-551
Marks the point from which the road enters the river basin named.
S-560
Marks the point from which the road enters the autonomous community and province named.
S-561
A sign giving the ownership, number and name of the conventional or multi-lane road you are joining. If the road has no name, the panel carries the word “Carretera” followed by its identifying box.
S-562
A sign giving the ownership, number and name of the motorway or dual carriageway you are joining. If it has no name, the panel carries the word “Autopista” or “Autovía” followed by its identifying box.
S-570
Gives the kilometre point of the motorway or dual carriageway identified at the top.
S-570a
Gives the kilometre point of the toll motorway identified at the top.
S-571
Gives the kilometre point of the motorway or dual carriageway belonging to an international route, identified at the top of the sign.
S-572
Gives the kilometre point of a conventional or multi-lane road identified at the top, on a background whose colour matches the road's class.
S-573
Gives the kilometre point of a conventional or multi-lane road belonging to an international route, whose letters and numbers appear at the top of the sign.
S-574
Gives the kilometre point of a conventional or multi-lane road when it is a multiple of ten.
S-574a
Gives the kilometre point of a motorway or dual carriageway when it is a multiple of ten.
S-574b
Gives the kilometre point of a toll motorway when it is a multiple of ten.
S-574c
Gives the kilometre point, when it is a multiple of ten, on a conventional or multi-lane road belonging to an international route identified at the top of the sign.
S-574d
Gives the kilometre point, when it is a multiple of ten, on a motorway or dual carriageway belonging to an international route identified at the top of the sign.
S-574e
Gives the kilometre point, when it is a multiple of ten, on a toll motorway that also forms part of an international route identified at the top of the sign.
S-575
Gives the kilometre point of a road that is neither a motorway nor a dual carriageway and belongs to a network other than the state's, when it is a multiple of ten. Its colour matches that road's class.
The definitions in the list follow the regulation's Spanish text. The introduction and the comparisons are ours.
Source: Reglamento General de Circulación — Anexo I, apartado 5: Catálogo oficial de señales de la circulación y marcas viales (Catálogo de señales verticales, tomo I) · Anexo I, apartado 5 (Catálogo de señales verticales de circulación, tomo I)
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