DGT accelerates with Saturday exams but avoids hiring examiners

Published on May 20, 2026 | Translated from Spanish

The DGT has launched extraordinary sessions of practical exams during afternoons and Saturdays to reduce the waiting lists affecting thousands of applicants in Spain. In Lleida, 15 examiners conducted 300 tests in a single Saturday, multiplying the usual daily capacity of 48 exams by six. The sector applauds the measure, although it warns that only increasing staff will solve the underlying problem.

Saturday morning at a traffic exam center, a line of official cars waiting next to a maneuvering track, an examiner with a digital tablet recording results while an applicant performs parallel parking, a wall clock showing 8:30 am, a calendar with Saturdays marked in red, a bar chart on a screen showing 300 exams versus the usual 48, an empty examiner application tray, photorealistic cinematic style, natural morning lighting, corporate DGT blue and white tones, depth of field, detailed asphalt and vehicle texture

Logistics at the limit: how to squeeze capacity without expanding resources 🚗

The DGT's strategy is based on optimizing the schedules and shifts of existing examiners, avoiding hiring. In Lleida, 15 examiners were organized in intensive shifts during a Saturday, achieving a performance six times higher than on a working day. From a technical point of view, this implies tighter resource management, but the system reaches its ceiling without new staff, raising doubts about its long-term sustainability.

Saturdays of driving frenzy: the DGT plan that is not what it seems ⏰

The DGT has discovered that if you gather 15 examiners on a Saturday, they can examine 300 people. But of course, then Monday comes and they are the same ones, but more tired. It's like asking a printer to output 300 pages in one day and then complaining that it jams. The sector is clear: either more people are hired, or Saturdays will end up being as long as the waiting lists.