From 1 October 2026, anyone in Spain who rents a motorboat and steers it needs a licence, however small the boat. Royal Decree 1188/2025 ends the exemption rental firms relied on for years: motorboats up to 5 metres long with engines of up to 15 hp. Whoever steers a rented boat of that size now needs a boating licence, and licences from countries of the European Economic Area are accepted. The rule applies on every Spanish coast, the Balearics, Costa Brava and Canaries included.
Until now, anyone aged 18 or over could take such a boat out in daylight, within two nautical miles of a port, marina or shelter. The 2014 rules never said the boat had to be your own, and on Mallorca, Ibiza and Formentera a rental trade grew up around that. The decree was published on 30 December 2025; the licence change starts nine months later.
What can you still do without a licence?
Your own boat of the same size stays licence-free: private use, up to 5 metres and 15 hp without a power restrictor, in daylight, within two miles of the port, marina or beach you left from, from the age of 18.
Renting with a skipper is also fine. The Spanish Ministry of Transport put it in the headline of its 23 September release: every rented recreational boat, whatever its length, needs a licensed skipper. Guests who don't steer need no papers.
Sailing boats up to 6 metres keep the exemption for what the decree calls "sporting use", as do kayaks, paddleboards and beach craft. Whether sailing dinghies can still be rented licence-free is unclear. YACHT describes the exemption as covering recreational use, while the ministry's release repeats the "sporting use" wording and says nothing about rentals.
Jet skis always needed a licence, except for hourly group excursions, guided rides with an instructor or laps of a buoyed circuit, the ministry notes. The decree measures length and engine power and says nothing specific about electric boats. Inland lakes and reservoirs have their own rules.
Which licences will rental companies accept?
| Document | Issued by | What it allows |
|---|---|---|
| Licencia de navegación | Spanish sailing schools and nautical federations | Boats and jet skis up to 6 m, daylight, within two miles |
| PNB or PER | Spain | Higher Spanish titles; practical training from 8 hours (PNB) or 16 hours (PER) |
| National licence from an EEA country | Country of citizenship or residence | Whatever that licence covers |
| RYA Powerboat Level 2, Day Skipper, Yachtmaster, ICC | United Kingdom | The limits of the certificate; Powerboat Level 2 means motorboats up to 10 m, up to 5 miles out |
For anyone without papers, the quickest route is the licencia de navegación, known in Spain as the "titulín": two hours of theory and at least four of practice under the 2014 decree, with no exam. The minimum age is 18, or 16 with a parent's written consent.
Visitors from outside the EEA can rent on their own licence only if their country appears in annex IX of the rules: the UK, Switzerland (Permis B), Canada (Pleasure Craft Operator Card), Andorra, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Venezuela. The United States, Russia and China are not on it, so travellers from there need the Spanish licence or a skipper. Professional STCW certificates also count.
YACHT tells German readers the Sportbootführerschein See is usually enough; anyone with only the inland version or an older licence should send a copy to the rental company before booking and get written confirmation.
Why did Spain change the rule, and what are the fines?
The decree's preamble justifies the change by "the high number of incidents and accidents" in this activity, without giving figures. The ministry says training renters can help reduce them.
Checking the licence is the rental company's job. Penalties come from Spain's ports and merchant navy law, which treats letting someone without a sufficient licence steer, or steering without one, as a serious offence against maritime safety. Fines go up to €180,000, for the rental firm and the renter alike.
On 18 August a licence-free rental boat of about 4.5 metres capsized about 100 metres from shore near s'Estanyol on Mallorca, and a 69-year-old man died, Ultima Hora reported. The decree was already almost eight months old.
Pedro Gil, president of the Balearic charter association AECIB, told Ultima Hora the rule makes no sense: "They can go out on the water but they can't be rented out… Taking them away is not going to improve safety." Starboats on Ibiza, which rents out 12 licence-free boats, told elDiario.es it will have to close. Charter For You Ibiza has added larger boats with a professional skipper while keeping some small ones, and its bookings are up more than 40 per cent this season, according to Economía de Mallorca. According to elDiario.es, the decree has been appealed to Spain's Supreme Court; the ministry's 23 September release keeps 1 October as the start date.
Photo: alex cobo / Pexels. Source: BOE (Royal Decree 1188/2025, Royal Decree 875/2014), Spanish Ministry of Transport, YACHT, elDiario.es, Ultima Hora, Economía de Mallorca.
