Hiring a boat in Spain from October 2026: which licence?
Hiring a boat in Spain: the licence rule is not new, but the article 10 exemption narrows on 1 Oct 2026. What counts for UK and foreign licences.
To hire a Spanish pleasure boat, the rules require a valid recreational licence (título de recreo) or a qualifying certificateRD 875/2014, additional provision 3 (DA 3.ª), para. 1. That rule is not new. What changes on 1 October 2026 is the licence exemption in article 10, which for motorboats of up to 5 m and 15 CV (metric horsepower, about 11 kW) now covers private use only and, for sailing boats of up to 6 m, sporting use only. A foreign licence is accepted if it was issued by your country of nationality or residence and that country is in the European Economic Area (EEA) or listed in Annex IX (anexo IX) of the same royal decree. The UK is listed in Annex IX, with limits for each qualification: see ‘If you hold a UK certificate’ below. This is general information, not legal advice.
What changes in article 10
Royal Decree 1188/2025 changed article 10 of Royal Decree 875/2014, and the new wording has been in force since 1 October 2026RD 1188/2025, final provision 2, para. 2. Previously, article 10 allowed you to handle without a licence motorboats of up to 11.26 kW and 5 m, sailing boats of up to 6 m and floating or beach craft, with no distinction by type of use. It now speaks of ‘private use’ for motor craft of up to 5 m and 15 CV, without a power-limiting device, and of ‘sporting use’ for sailing craft of up to 6 mRD 875/2014, art. 10.1.a and b.
The new wording of article 10 of RD 875/2014 comes into force
Until 30 September 2026
- Motor craft of up to 11.26 kW and 5 m, no licence
- Sailing craft of up to 6 m, no licence
- Floating or beach craft
- No distinction by type of use
From 1 October 2026
- Motor craft of up to 5 m and 15 CV, without a power-limiting device: private use only
- Sailing craft of up to 6 m: sporting use only
- Floating or beach craft
- For hire, DA 3.ª, para. 1, requires a licence (unchanged)
The text of article 10 does not use the word for ‘hire’ (alquiler). The preamble refers to motorboats of up to 5 m and 15 CV: when these craft are hired out, “el arrendatario deberá estar en posesión del título correspondiente” (the hirer must hold the corresponding licence; our translation)RD 1188/2025, preamble, section V. The preamble sets out the purpose of the rule; the rule on hiring is in DA 3.ª, para. 1, with the same text since 2014.
The other limits of the exemption remain: stay within 2 nautical miles of the port, marina or beach you set out from (the old text said ‘place of shelter’), sail by day and be at least 18 years old. Personal watercraft (jet skis) are excludedart. 10.1, 10.2 and 10.3.
If you have no licence
A small motorboat for private use or a sailing boat for sporting use can still be handled without a licence under the conditions in article 10. To hire a boat, though, DA 3.ª says: “Las embarcaciones de recreo españolas se podrán alquilar a cualquier persona física siempre que ésta disponga de un título de recreo o un certificado habilitante en vigor […]” (Spanish pleasure craft may be hired to any individual who holds a valid recreational licence or qualifying certificate […]; our translation).
The licencia de navegación is among the “títulos y licencia habilitantes” (qualifying licences and certificates)art. 6.1.e. It allows you to handle craft of up to 6 m, by day and no more than 2 nautical miles from a port, marina or place of shelterart. 11.1. DA 3.ª does not say expressly whether the licence counts as a ‘qualifying certificate’ for hiring: ask the hire company and the capitanía marítima before relying on it.
Who needs which licence
| If you are… | Which licence counts | What you can hire |
|---|---|---|
| A national or resident with a Spanish licence | PNB (Patrón de Navegación Básica), PER (Patrón de Embarcaciones de Recreo), patrón de yate or capitán de yate, or the licencia de navegación (DA 3.ª does not say expressly whether it counts for hiring)RD 875/2014, art. 6.1 | What its privileges allowarts. 8, 9 and 11 |
| A national or resident with a licence from an EEA country | The licence from that country | What the licence confersadditional provision 3, para. 1 |
| A national or resident of an Annex IX country | The licence listed in Annex IX | The limits stated in the annex |
| From another country, with no Spanish licence | A valid professional qualification from a country that is party to the STCW Convention, meeting the requirements of its chapter II, to hire without crewDA 3.ª, para. 3 | Not beyond the privileges of the professional qualification. We found no other route in the texts we reviewed; ask the capitanía marítima |
These rules refer to Spanish pleasure craft. The Dirección General de la Marina Mercante (the Spanish merchant marine authority), through the capitanías marítimas, authorises citizens of the EEA and of Annex IX countries holding licences issued by those countries, subject to the requirements of DA 3.ªDA 4.ª.
If your licence is foreign
Licence from an EU or EEA country. If your recreational licence is valid and was issued by your country of nationality or residence, and that country is in the EEA, DA 3.ª, para. 1, allows you to hire a Spanish boat within the privileges the licence confersDA 3.ª, para. 1.
Resident in Spain with a foreign licence. The rule speaks of the nationality ‘or’ residence of the country that issued the licence. If it was issued on the basis of residence, that residence must be proven in the issuing country at the time of issueDA 3.ª, paras. 1 and 2.
If you hold a UK certificate. The UK is not in the EEA, but it is listed in Annex IX with Yachtmaster Ocean, Yachtmaster Offshore, Coastal Skipper/Yachtmaster Coastal, Day Skipper, Powerboat Level 2 and the International Certificate for Operators of Pleasure Craft (ICC). Each has its own limits; for example, Day Skipper for craft of up to 24 m and no more than 12 nautical miles from the coast, and Powerboat Level 2 for motorboats of up to 10 m and 5 nautical milesAnnex IX, “Reino Unido - RYA” (United Kingdom – RYA). The Royal Yachting Association (RYA), a British body and not a Spanish authority, warns that for residents in Spain a UK certificate may not be enough; that to operate a Spanish-flagged vessel (including bareboat hire, that is, hire without a skipper) certificates must be listed in Annex IX; and that Spain has not adopted Resolution 40 of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)RYA, Spain. We do not say which body issues the ICC or whether it is valid for a holder of the Spanish PER.
Other Annex IX countries. Andorra, Argentina, Canada, Chile, Switzerland, Uruguay and Venezuela, with the licences and privileges in each tableAnnex IX. Royal Decree 1188/2025, article four, para. two, replaced the Andorra table. If the country that issued your licence is neither in the EEA nor in Annex IX, paragraph 1 of DA 3.ª does not cover you; paragraph 3 deals with a different case, the STCW professional qualification.
If the boat has another flag
Anyone handling a foreign-flagged vessel in waters where Spain exercises sovereignty, sovereign rights or jurisdiction must hold a qualification that entitles them to that navigation. The qualification required depends on the law of the skipper’s country of nationality when it matches the flag, and on that of the country of residence, or failing that of nationality, when they differDA 5.ª, paras. 1 and 2. We have not reviewed other rules that may affect hiring foreign-flagged boats.
What the reform does not touch
Royal Decree 1188/2025 amends article 10 and the Andorra table in Annex IX, and does not touch additional provisions 3 to 5RD 1188/2025, article four. These stay the same: the nationality-or-residence rule, the list of Annex IX countries, and the exemption from age and licence requirements for official sporting maritime competitionsRD 875/2014, art. 10.4.
Where the PER fits
How we checked this information
On 15 October 2026 we read, in the BOE, the consolidated text of Royal Decree 875/2014 and the published text of Royal Decree 1188/2025. The wording of article 10 appears as “Última actualización publicada el 30/12/2025, en vigor a partir del 01/10/2026” (last update published on 30 December 2025, in force from 1 October 2026). We summarise the rules; we do not apply them to your case. This is general information: it is not legal advice and does not guarantee that your licence is valid for a particular hire. For your case, ask the hire company and the capitanía marítimaDA 4.ª.