In November 1981, in the absence of specific regulations, the Association of Municipal and Provincial Engineers of Spain, A.I.M.P.E. developed and published Recommendations for Urban Information Signage in order to achieve greater order and uniformity in the information signs of cities. These recommendations were updated through a new publication in 1995.

The need for these Recommendations was due, at that time, to the lack of clear regulations that, although they had begun to be developed regarding interurban roads with the Vertical Signage standards of the Ministry of Public Works, the same was not the case with urban roads. This happened among other reasons, because urban signage, in many aspects, is more problematic as a consequence of both the complexity of road networks and intersections, and the quantity and density of points of interest and routes to be signposted. Added to the above is the enormous amount of distraction elements due to advertising, commercial activity or even parked and moving vehicles that are normally found in urban areas and that are not usually found, or at least are easier to limit, on interurban roads.

The fact that the regulations on signaling received greater attention and, consequently, achieved greater clarity and precision in everything related to interurban roads than in relation to urban roads is, in a certain way, logical since circulation on roads implies greater danger due to the high speeds for which they are designed.

The profuse application of the AIMPE Recommendations that has been made in cities throughout Spain is an example of their adaptation to existing needs, as is also the fact that, with regard to the information signage modules, they have subsequently been included in both the Official Catalog of Traffic Signs and the General Traffic Regulations[1]​.

The system is based on the aggregation of modules of equal size, where each module contains a single indication and a single address.

The order of placement of the modules from top to bottom will always be as follows:

• - 1st Indications from the front (up arrow).

• - 2nd Indications with arrow inclined at 45° to the left.

• - 3rd Directions to the left.