On October 25, 2017, in a session of control to the Government of Spain in the Congress of Deputies, the parliamentary of the popular group, D. Antonio González requested information from the Minister of Public Works, Mr. Iñigo De la Serna, about of the approval of the future law of drones that comes to modify the current, Law 18/2014 approved and in force from October 2014.
The Minister of Public Works said that work is under way on a new set of rules, drafted in a future Royal Decree that has been subject to numerous administrative inquiries and formalities and which is apparently already in its final approval phase. The Minister of Development was hopeful that the new law of drones or professional RPAS of Spain see the light and is approved before the end of 2017.
In addition, Mr. Iñigo De la Serna showed his commitment to approve a Strategic Plan for the Development of the Drones Sector in Spain for the first quarter of 2018.
This intervention and what comes out of it is very good news for professionals in the sector of the RPAS in Spain. The future regulation of state drones will allow flying under conditions where it is currently prohibited to fly. As the Minister himself affirmed, it will be allowed to fly at night, over crowds of people outdoors and buildings, etc ... Some scenarios already advanced in the draft of the future royal decree, but will be subject to additional specifications and conditions to the current ones and always with express authorization of AESA, before writing a specific Security Aeronautical Study for the operation.
In the intervention of the Parliamentary of the People's Group prior to the Minister, it is indicated that AENA itself will calibrate by drones various instruments of approximation in the airports that this same entity manages. Faced with this statement, the question arises as to how to perform drones or RPAS in controlled airspace, if currently not allowed by law. We understand that the inspections and calibrations indicated in the arguments of Mr. Antonio González will not be carried out until the new law is approved, and therefore it is allowed to carry out operations in controlled airspace with prior authorization from AESA.
You can consult the video of the intervention of the Minister in the following link:
http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/noticias-24-horas/24-drones/4270239/
We will be attentive to the evolution of the terms of approval of the new law, in the hope that it will be approved as soon as possible, to allow the drones sector a reasonable growth and benefit society as a whole.
