Flying a drone near airports in Spain

What the rules say

Each line is resolved from published facts of Spain. "Not resolved" means the corpus does not answer it in a machine-checkable way — never that the law is silent.

• Distance restrictionNot resolved
• Aerodrome permissionConditional
• Controlled airspace permissionConditional
• Protected facilitiesConditional
• Digital authorisationNot resolved
• Altitude relationshipConditional
• ExceptionsConditional

What changes the answer

The published rules distinguish the open category of operation.

• other

  Horizontal clearance of 10 m

• other

  Horizontal clearance of 25 m

• other

  Vertical clearance of 50 m

The rules behind this answer

• Binding lawNational rule

  Coordination Procedure in UAS Geographical Zones

  When a UAS geographical zone requires coordination with aerodrome/heliport managers or ATS providers, this coordination must be established in accordance with the operational procedure set out in Article 43.

  Open the requirementOfficial source
• Binding lawNational rule

  Equipment exemption for open category outside geographical zones

  General airspace equipment requirements are not applicable to UAS operated in the open category outside UAS geographical zones.

  Open the requirementOfficial source
• Binding lawNational rule

  Exemption from coordination procedure for urgent operations near private aerodromes

  UAS operations in non-EASA activities do not require the coordination procedure of Article 43 near private-use aerodromes or heliports if the operation is urgent, unplannable, and covered by an operational risk assessment with equivalent safety mitigations.

  Open the requirementOfficial source
• Binding lawNational rule

  Exemption from UAS geographical zone conditions for national security and public safety operations

  UAS geographical zone conditions near aerodromes, heliports, controlled airspace, and FIZ do not apply to urgent national security, anti-terrorism, or public safety operations conducted by authorized public bodies, provided they coordinate in real-time with ATS.

  Open the requirementOfficial source
• Binding lawNational rule

  Exemptions for Public Security, Emergency, and Non-EASA Operations

  The operational restrictions do not apply to railway operations by security forces, customs, intelligence, or traffic authorities when required by the mission, nor to non-EASA operations at other essential infrastructures, provided mitigation measures are taken.

  Open the requirementOfficial source
• Binding lawNational rule

  General equipment requirements outside UAS geographical zones

  Outside UAS geographical zones, UAS must carry the equipment required for the airspace in which they operate, in accordance with applicable air rules.

  Open the requirementOfficial source
• Binding lawNational rule

  Horizontal Limits of Essential Services Geographical Zones

  The horizontal boundary of an essential services geographical zone extends 25 meters from the outer edges of linear infrastructures, or 10 meters from the covered surface of non-linear infrastructures, measured from the outer fence if present.

  Open the requirementOfficial source
• Binding lawNational rule

  Real Decreto 517/2024, art. 38 - section overview

  This section defines general UAS geographical zones established for reasons of military security, National Defense, and State security, and mandates that operating UAS within these zones or active military deployment areas requires prior express permission from the responsible entity or the Ministry of Defense.

  Open the requirementOfficial source

Official sources

• Real Decreto 517/2024, de 4 de junio, por el que se desarrolla el regimen juridico para la utilizacion civil de sistemas de aeronaves no tripuladas (UAS) — Ministerio del InteriorOpen

Known limitations

• 2 dimension(s) of this topic are not expressed in a machine-resolvable way by the published corpus and are reported UNKNOWN, never FALSE.

Other drone rules in Spain

• Do I need to register my drone in Spain?Registration in Spain is governed by a published mass threshold of 0.25 kg, alongside the further conditions cited below. Whether it applies to a given flight depends on those conditions, each cited to its rule.
• What is the maximum drone altitude in Spain?Drone flights in Spain are held to a published general height limit of 120 m above_nearest_obstacle. The limit is not absolute: the published conditions that change it are cited below.
• When does a drone operation need authorisation in Spain?Whether an operation in Spain needs prior authorisation depends on the operational category, risk class or location: the published triggers below decide it.
• What training do I need to fly a drone in Spain?Remote pilot competency in Spain scales with the operation: which training, examination or proof of competency applies is set by the published conditions below.
• Do I need drone insurance in Spain?Drone insurance in Spain is published with a minimum third-party cover of 0.75 million SDR. Whether cover is required for a given flight depends on the published conditions below.

All drone laws in Spain