Earlier this week on December 15th 2017, Spain passed a law that the drone industry was waiting for since 2016. The new law is similar to what we have seen been issued by some European countries that allowed for scenarios like; flying inside cities, at night and beyond visual line of sight. Similar to the FAA here the US, flying in situations mentioned above will require permission from the AESA, Agencia Estatal de Seguridad Aérea (Spanish Aviation Safety and Security Agency). The AESA will work with the agency asking for the waiver request in order to fly safely in new operational scenarios. The most similar move we have seen in the US is when President Donald J. Trump directed U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao to launch an initiative to safely test and validate advanced operations for drones in partnership with state and local governments in select jurisdictions.
This is important to Spain for 3 reasons:
Half of Spain is farm lands.
The benefits of drone in Agriculture starts with things like analysis, monitoring and health assessment to more labor-saving missions like planting, irrigation and spraying that the Spanish farmers need in order to stay competitive.
Spain is a world leader in wind energy generation
Spain was one of the world first adaptors to wind farms and can benefit tremendously from aerial drone inspections that has already proven its value here in the US during normal time or in emergency situations like Hurricane Harvey. Operating drones with some the above restrictions lifted will help the drone industry carve a bigger market.
Help the Spanish Drone Startups
Many Spanish startups are waiting for the rules to flex a little so they can target a bigger market and acquire better investments. Startups that are making new value propositions and touching many of the common grounds that are being shaped right now in the professional level. Security & Surveillance, Fast response applications, long-endurance drones, industrial applications and more.
What is the future like?
Spain’s economy has struggled over the past few years by it is slowly coming back. Few restrictions will result is more service companies joining the industry, expansion in manufacturing and hardware sales, and problems that startups that can solve that can be the foundation for international exports. Sectors like security, industrial inspections or fast response applications will drive the Drone revolution in Spain for the coming years.
Why is this important to Spanish companies?
Spain has always been a leader when doing business in Latin America. For many startups, it is a known strategy for expansion to target Spanish and Portuguese speaking markets especially in South America, Mexico, and the Caribbean that is home for more than 420,000 Million people. While countries like Brazil and Chile still prohibits flying drones for commercial applications, we believe the rules will change soon in order to compete with the international markets.