Spain: the national base after 2024
Spanish drone law changed its basis on 25 June 2024: Real Decreto 517/2024 replaced Real Decreto 1036/2017, which was repealed. It sets the ages, the insurance, the operator register and a geography of zones far more detailed than the European base.
Key points
- Real Decreto 517/2024, BOE-A-2024-11377, has been in force since 25 June 2024 and expressly repeals Real Decreto 1036/2017. Any source still pointing to 1036/2017 describes law that has gone.
- Ages: sixteen to be an operator (art. 6); for the remote pilot, article 7 lowers the European threshold to twelve in A1 with a C0 that is not a toy, and to fourteen for a C1 in A1, a C2 in A2 or A3, and C3, C4 and privately built aircraft under 25 kg in A3.
- Insurance: Regulation (EC) No 785/2004 from 20 kg; below 20 kg, a policy is compulsory in A2, in the ‘specific’ category and in the ‘certified’ category, other operations below 20 kg being excepted. A club or federation policy may be enough.
- The operator register is kept by the Dirección de Seguridad de Aeronaves of AESA (art. 48); the entry is made by the operator himself and the single number is issued automatically. Dealings with AESA go by electronic means (art. 63).
- Articles 53 to 58, which created the Ministerio del Interior register of unmanned aircraft, were annulled by the judgment of the Tribunal Supremo of 19 June 2025, referenced BOE-A-2025-14308. The consolidated text carries the note Anulado.
- Geographical zones: ENAIRE publishes the information in the single common digital format (seventh additional provision). Temporary zones go by NOTAM or AIP supplement where manned aviation is concerned, otherwise only through that format.
- Urban zone: it rises to 300 metres above the highest obstacle within a radius of 600 metres. Flying there means notifying the Ministerio del Interior beforehand, at least five calendar days in advance, and flying over dwellings there is prohibited.
- Attribution notices required by the BOE, to be reproduced as they stand and never translated: Fuente de los datos: Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado; for reworked data: Basado en datos de la Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado. Source: https://www.boe.es
The trap. Two version traps, and they both point the same way. The first: revising from Real Decreto 1036/2017, repealed since 25 June 2024. The second: revising from the original text of 517/2024 while ignoring that its articles 53 to 58 were annulled on 19 June 2025. In both cases you learn an obligation that does not exist. Always check the date of the consolidated version before committing an article to memory.
Source
Real Decreto 517/2024, de 4 de junio (UAS); BOE-A-2024-11377, texto consolidado de carácter meramente informativo, última actualización publicada el 11/07/2025, en vigor desde el 25/06/2024; ELI https://www.boe.es/eli/es/rd/2024/06/04/517/con; anulación parcial: Sentencia del Tribunal Supremo de 19 de junio de 2025, ref. BOE-A-2025-14308. Fuente de los datos: Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado. Basado en datos de la Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado. https://www.boe.es