Activities or services not EASA with UAS
Legal status
Non-EASA activities or services
‘Non-EASA activities or services’ are those excluded from the scope of Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 of the European Parliament and of the Council, Article 2.3(a), which include customs, police, search and rescue, firefighting, border control, coastal surveillance or similar activities or services, including traffic surveillance and discipline throughout the national territory, under the control and responsibility of a Member State, undertaken in the general interest by or on behalf of a body vested with public authority.
Legal status
The regulations governing non-EASA civil activities or services carried out with UAS in Spain are Royal Decree 517/2024 of 4 June.
That Royal Decree lays down the legal regime applicable to non-EASA activities or services carried out directly by a body vested with public authority responsible for the respective activity or service (non-EASA direct activities) and those carried out on behalf of a body vested with public authority (non-EASA indirect activities).
In addition to the provisions of Royal Decree 517/2024, the European regulation applies to non-EASA direct activities or services, with certain exceptions.
Indirect non-EASA activities are subject to RD 517/2024 and European UAS regulations.
Transitional period
Operators carrying out non-EASA activities or services have one year from the entry into force of RD 517/2024 to fully adapt to the provisions of it, except for the use of the airspace and geographical areas of UAS, which is applicable to them since its entry into force.
As long as non-EASA activities or services are fully adapted, the provisions of Royal Decree 1036/2017 of 15 December 2017 will apply to these UAS operations.
