Can you fly your drone in Spain?

Two separate things are easily confused here. Registration as a drone operator is required as soon as your drone weighs 250 g or more, or has a camera or sensor able to capture personal data — so it covers many sub-250 g drones too, unless they qualify for the toy exemption. The remote pilot's certificate of competency (Pilot's Certificate) is something else: you need it once your drone weighs 250 g or more, or carries a C1 or higher class mark. A camera drone under 250 g therefore needs registration, but no exam. You get the certificate by passing an online theory test with AESA, and it is then valid across the whole EASA area, not just here.

Yes — EU drone rules apply to visitors too. If you are already registered as a drone operator in another EASA country, that registration and your A1/A3 certificate (also A2) are valid in Spain as well. Coming from outside the EASA area, you register once — in the first EASA country where you plan to fly, here with AESA. For any flight in a town or city, or over gatherings of people, Spain requires notifying the Ministry of the Interior at least 5 calendar days in advance — and this applies to recreational pilots and camera drones under 250 g too.

The short version: In the open category, the maximum height is 120 m measured as the distance to the closest point of the Earth's surface — not simply straight down, so near a slope the terrain beside you can also count. Within 50 m of a tall artificial obstacle (over 105 m), the maximum height may be increased up to 15 m above the height of the obstacle at the request of the entity responsible for the obstacle. On top of that: You must register as a drone operator if your drone weighs 250 g or more (or can transfer more than 80 J of impact energy) — this applies even to toys. Below 250 g, registration is still mandatory if the drone carries a sensor capable of capturing personal data, unless it is considered a toy under the EU Toy Safety Directive. Pilot training/certificate requirements are separate and depend on the drone's class and subcategory. Also: In Spain, the minimum age under RD 517/2024 (art. 7) is 12 years for C0 drones in subcategory A1, and 14 years for C1/C2 and A3 without direct supervision; in both cases, completing the online A1/A3 training and exam is required. These are central aviation rules — location-specific airspace, land, nature, privacy and photography requirements can also apply in Spain, so always check the official sources.

The no-go areas are the restricted zones — typically around airports, prisons, military sites and protected nature areas. In Spain you can see every zone on the interactive map on this page, and in the DroneKoll app wherever you are standing.

Drone flying in Spain is regulated by AESA. The airspace itself is managed by ENAIRE. You will find both organisations' official pages under Sources below — those are the links worth bookmarking.