{"id":312221,"date":"2025-08-02T15:18:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-02T15:18:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/312221\/"},"modified":"2025-08-02T15:18:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-02T15:18:13","slug":"warning-to-uk-tourists-visiting-spain-or-canary-islands-after-holidaymaker-fined-e200k","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/312221\/","title":{"rendered":"Warning to UK tourists visiting Spain or Canary Islands after holidaymaker fined \u20ac200k"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This little-known rule could get tourists slapped with a huge fine<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_Puerto-de-la-Cruz-Tenerife-Picture-by-Norberak-egina-from-creative-commons-for-a-destination-guid..jpeg\" alt=\"Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife.\" loading=\"eager\"  \/>The tourist hit with the hefty fine was staying in Puerto de la Cruz in Tenerife(Image: Norberak egina)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">A holidaymaker has been hit with a fine of up to \u20ac200,000 for flying a drone without authorisation at a festival in Spain.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">The National Police confirmed that a tourist was flying a drone during the crowded Virgen del Carmen festival in Puerto de la Cruz on July 15, which they were not authorised to do, reports <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.canarianweekly.com\/posts\/Holidaymaker-faces-200-000-fine-for-flying-drone-illegally-during-Canarian-festival\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Canarian Weekly<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">The incident took place during the popular maritime procession attended by thousands of onlookers, where police officers monitoring the event noticed an unauthorised drone in flight.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">The operator was quickly traced to Hotel Las \u00c1guilas, in the upper part of the town. Upon questioning, the tourist admitted to not having a pilot licence, insurance, or knowledge of Spanish drone regulations.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_PMR_SCU_160117online01.jpg\" alt=\"Drone flying\" loading=\"lazy\"  \/>Tourists are being reminded of the rules surrounding flying drones in Spain(Image: PA Photo\/thinkstockphotos)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">The drone was confiscated, and the case was referred to <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk\/all-about\/spain\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Spain&#8217;s <\/a>State Aviation Safety Agency (AESA) for administrative proceedings.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Under Spanish and EU law, all drone flights in urban areas or over crowds require prior authorisation, and pilots must be registered, insured, and trained.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Only three drones were authorised nad allowed to fly at the festival, two operated by the National Police for security surveillance and one for official event coverage.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Tourists are being warned by Spanish authorities that Spain\u2019s drone laws are strict and violations are taken seriously. Depending on the severity of the crime, drone fines can range from:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"UnorderedList_unordered-list__gzblI\">\n<li class=\"sc-700e1ff3-0 VljCu\">\u20ac60 to \u20ac45,000 for minor infractions (e.g., flying without insurance)<\/li>\n<li class=\"sc-700e1ff3-0 VljCu\">\u20ac45,001 to \u20ac90,000 for serious offences (e.g., flying in restricted areas)<\/li>\n<li class=\"sc-700e1ff3-0 VljCu\">\u20ac90,001 to \u20ac225,000 for very serious breaches (e.g., endangering people or interfering with airspace)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_psm_SCU_200516drones_04.jpg\" alt=\"Drone flying\" loading=\"lazy\"  \/>If a drone weighs more than 250g or has a camera there are actions you must take (Image: shared content unit)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">For those tourists wanting to operate a drone, even for recreational use, you must do the following if it weighs more than 250g or has a camera:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"UnorderedList_unordered-list__gzblI\">\n<li class=\"sc-700e1ff3-0 VljCu\">Register as a drone operator with AESA<\/li>\n<li class=\"sc-700e1ff3-0 VljCu\">Complete basic online training (open category \u2013 free)<\/li>\n<li class=\"sc-700e1ff3-0 VljCu\">Label your drone with your operator ID<\/li>\n<li class=\"sc-700e1ff3-0 VljCu\">Have civil liability insurance (strongly advised)<\/li>\n<li class=\"sc-700e1ff3-0 VljCu\">Check approved flight zones using the ENAIRE Drones app<\/li>\n<li class=\"sc-700e1ff3-0 VljCu\">Avoid flying in urban areas, over people, or near airports and protected areas, unless specially authorised<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Spanish authorities are urging tourists that drones are not toys and flying one without meeting legal requirements can carry serious legal and safety consequences, particularly during public events.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Anyone visiting the Canary Islands and planning to fly a drone is strongly advised to check the latest regulations and secure any necessary approvals well in advance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This little-known rule could get tourists slapped with a huge fineThe tourist hit with the hefty fine was&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":312222,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5312],"tags":[3045,2000,299,104],"class_list":{"0":"post-312221","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-spain","8":"tag-canary-islands","9":"tag-eu","10":"tag-europe","11":"tag-spain"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114959843758802568","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=312221"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312221\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/312222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=312221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=312221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=312221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}