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Agricultural drone spraying rules in Spain

What you need to spray crops with a drone in Spain: legal status, authorities, permits, requirements and operating limits, with links to the official sources.

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Restricted or by exception. Spraying plant protection products by drone is prohibited as a rule. Drone treatments count as aerial applications under Real Decreto 1311/2012, so each treatment needs prior authorisation from the regional government (comunidad autónoma), on top of an AESA operational authorisation.

Who regulates it

What you need

  • Register as a UAS operator with AESA. (seguridadaerea.gob.es)
  • Hold an AESA operational authorisation in the specific category. AESA has a predefined risk assessment for phytosanitary operations (PDRA-S01 [F]). (seguridadaerea.gob.es)
  • The pilot needs the professional user card for plant protection products at pilot applicator level (carné de piloto aplicador, art. 18 RD 1311/2012). (boe.es)
  • The pilot or the company must be registered in the ROPO register, treatment services sector. (mapa.gob.es)
  • Use only products authorised for the crop and pest and specifically approved for aerial application (check the MAPA product register). (mapa.gob.es)
  • Get prior authorisation for each treatment from the regional government, with an application plan signed by a university-qualified treatment director. (agriculturaganaderia.jcyl.es)
  • The treatment company must hold civil and chemical liability insurance for the aircraft (annex VI). (boe.es)
  • Keep a daily flight record (product, dose, area, times, georeferenced data) for at least 3 years (annex VI). (boe.es)
  • Since 1 January 2026, professional users must keep treatment records in electronic, machine-readable form (Regulation (EU) 2023/564). (eur-lex.europa.eu)

How to get authorised

  1. Register with AESA and apply for a specific-category operational authorisation (PDRA-S01 [F] for phytosanitary work). (seguridadaerea.gob.es)
  2. Obtain the pilot applicator card and register in ROPO. (mapa.gob.es)
  3. Check that the product is approved for aerial application. (mapa.gob.es)
  4. Prepare the application plan (annex VII): crop, pest, products, doses, dates, SIGPAC plots, 1:25,000 maps, exclusion zones, and a justification that there is no viable alternative or that aerial application has clear advantages. (boe.es)
  5. Submit the request to the regional authority. The maximum decision period is six months unless regional rules say otherwise. (agriculturaganaderia.jcyl.es)
  6. Put up warning signs on access roads, spray only as the authorised plan says, and keep the records. (boe.es)

Operating limits for spraying

  • Keep a safety strip of at least 100 m from towns, water bodies (rivers, lagoons, reservoirs), apiaries and non-target organic crops. The authorised plan may reduce it in justified cases (RD 1311/2012, annex VI).
  • Spray only in suitable weather, check the forecast beforehand and stop if conditions worsen significantly. The decree sets no fixed wind figure (annex VI).
  • PDRA-S01 [F]: visual line of sight up to 500 m, below 30 m above ground, maximum characteristic dimension 3 m, over a controlled ground area in sparsely populated zones, and no overflying people while spraying.
  • PDRA-S01 [F] ground risk buffer: at least 10 m when flying up to 10 m high, and 20 m up to 30 m high.

Good to know

  • MAPA's note says drone treatments with biological control organisms notified or authorised under Real Decreto 951/2014 are not subject to these plant protection product rules.
  • In August 2025 the Government of Aragón reminded farmers that drone spraying without prior authorisation is prohibited.
  • An EU proposal of December 2025 (COM(2025) 1021) would let Member States exempt some drone types from the aerial-spraying ban. It is still under discussion and does not apply yet.

Checked against official sources on 2026-09-18. Rules change: confirm with the authorities before operating. This page is a planning summary, not legal advice. The product label and the official rules always prevail.

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