Waze, Google Maps and TomTom AmiGO compared for jams, speed cameras and rerouting in Spain — plus when to open miDGT for official DGT data.
A ten-second warning before joining a tailback saves more time than any shortcut, The official source in Spain is the DGT, but official data alone is slow to reflect what drivers are living through right now, so the fastest apps combine authority feeds with the speed and reports of millions of phones. They differ in what else they do: one is a pure social navigator built around driver reports, one is a full GPS for every mode of transport, and one is a calm, ad-free speed-camera alert tool. The 3 apps in this guide were chosen as the ones actually worth keeping on a Spanish phone, with the official miDGT app covered in the questions below.
Waze is the social navigator for drivers: its community flags jams, accidents and speed cameras first, and the app reroutes you around them instantly.
Reports from other drivers cover fixed and mobile speed cameras, collisions, queues and police checks, and when trouble appears the route changes immediately to dodge it. It is the fastest of the three at detecting that something ahead has slowed down. The trade-offs are deliberate: it exists for cars only, with no walking or public transport modes; adverts appear when you are stopped at lights; the screen is cluttered; and constant reporting makes it one of the hungrier apps for battery. Install it for the daily commute and rush hour rather than as an all-purpose map.
Google Maps is the all-purpose default: live traffic and rerouting plus driving, walking, cycling and transit, already installed on most phones.
It is the most complete GPS of the three, with voice navigation for every mode, automatic rerouting when traffic worsens, Street View and downloadable offline maps, plus the widest business and road coverage worldwide. In Spain it is the safe everyday choice and the easiest to combine with the rest of a Google account. The costs are privacy and resources: navigation uses plenty of battery and mobile data, the app collects a lot of location information, and offline regions take storage space and need periodic updates. Waze beats it for driver-only incident speed; nothing beats it for breadth.
TomTom AmiGO delivers TomTom's trusted traffic data and speed-camera alerts for free, without adverts or the noise of a social navigator.
Built on the same maps and traffic feed that power many in-car systems, this is TomTom's lightweight app: fixed and mobile camera warnings with speed alerts, live traffic and basic navigation at no cost and with no advertising. Compared with Waze it is calmer and less distracting while driving, and compared with Google Maps it is deliberately simpler. What it gives up is depth: community hazard reports are far fewer, navigation is more basic, and there are no offline maps. It earns its slot as a quiet co-pilot for main-road drivers who mainly want camera warnings.
Pros
Free with no advertising
Fixed and mobile speed-camera alerts
TomTom traffic data, reliable on road
Cons
Navigation is plainer than Google Maps
Many fewer community reports
No offline maps
Download price only. In-app purchases and subscriptions may cost extra.
Questions & answers
Which traffic app is best for driving in Spain?
Waze detects hold-ups first because it reads the speed of its own users and adds their reports, so it wins in city traffic and at rush hour. Google Maps is more complete and integrates better with the rest of your phone. For road closures and scheduled roadworks, miDGT carries the official DGT data that the other apps can be slow to reflect.
How do I check official DGT incidents on my phone?
Use the miDGT app and open its traffic section: official incidents appear on the map and you can save frequent routes to receive alerts. The same information is published on the DGT website without registering. Bear in mind that the app's driving-licence and vehicle-document functions only work with Spanish documents.
Waze or Google Maps — which should I drive with?
For daily city driving and dodging queues, Waze. For everything else, Google Maps: its traffic data is solid, navigation is more dependable on main roads, and it also covers public transport and walking. Plenty of drivers keep both installed and only open Waze around rush hour, which is a sensible split.
Is paying for Coyote worth it?
If you cover a lot of kilometres on main roads, it can be: its incident and speed-camera alerts tend to arrive earlier and are verified before publication. For occasional city driving, the three free options here are more than enough, so the subscription mainly pays off for frequent long-distance drivers.
More related apps
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