Image by Flickr user EkoSystem

The good news for anyone driving in Spain is that the country’s roads have been getting safer at a remarkable rate. New figures show that road deaths in 2009 fell for the sixth year running, with the total of 1,897 down by 13 per cent on the 2008 figure. The last time road deaths were below 2,000 in Spain was 1964, when there were just two million cars on the road, compared with 31 million today. In the last six years the number of road deaths has more than halved, from 3,993 in 2003 to last year’s 1,897. Improved driving standards were the main reason, according to the Spanish interior ministry: “ The Spanish drove better, they were more cautious and safety-minded.”

A lot of the credit must also go to Spain’s huge investment in better roads, as well as the improved safety of modern cars.

Want to practise your Spanish? Read the full story as it appeared in El Mundo.