E-scooters in Spain: DGT registration, insurance and fines

What you need to do now

If you own an e-scooter or are about to buy one to get around Spain, four things cannot wait:

• Check that your model has a DGT certificate of roadworthiness. If you bought it before 22 January 2024 and it has none, it may only be ridden until 22 January 2027.
• Enter it in the Register of light personal vehicles and fix the identification label.
• Take out third-party liability insurance in your name or in the name of someone with an interest in insuring it.
• Check your town hall’s bylaw to find out which streets you may use, and always wear a helmet.

The underlying reason is summed up by the DGT in its magazine: the e-scooter has been given the legal status of a vehicle. In the DGT’s words, that means no alcohol, no earphones and no riding on pavements.

What counts as an e-scooter (VMP)

The DGT defines personal mobility vehicles (VMP) as vehicles with one or more wheels, a single seat position and powered exclusively by electric motors, able to reach a top speed of between 6 and 25 km/h. E-scooters fall into this category.

For insurance purposes, the royal decree published in the BOE refines the definition of a light personal vehicle:

• Manufacturer’s top speed between 6 and 25 km/h if it weighs less than 25 kg.
• Manufacturer’s top speed between 6 and 14 km/h if it weighs more than 25 kg.
• It may only have a seat or saddle if it has a self-balancing system.

Beware of scooters with saddles. According to the DGT instruction on VMPs, if the saddle is higher than 540 mm the vehicle falls under Regulation (EU) No 168/2013 and needs administrative authorisation to be used and ridden: in other words, it is no longer a VMP.

It is also best to forget old classifications. An instruction from November 2016 split VMPs into types A, B and C, with a cap of 20 km/h for type A, as the DGT magazine reported in 2019. The current rule published by the DGT is the range of 6 to 25 km/h.

DGT registration: since when and for whom

Law 5/2025 of 24 July provided, in its first additional provision, paragraph 7, for a Register of Light Personal Vehicles run by the Central Traffic Headquarters. A later royal decree has put it into effect: light personal vehicles that must hold a certificate of roadworthiness are required to be registered.

The DGT page on VMPs puts it bluntly: to be ridden, VMPs must have the certificate of entry in the Register of light personal vehicles and display the identification label.

The key dates, according to the DGT:

• 22 January 2024: all VMPs placed on the market must be certified for use.
• 22 January 2027: only VMPs that comply with the VMP technical manual and hold a DGT VMP certificate number may be ridden.

Older scooters without a certificate

If your scooter was sold before 22 January 2024 and has no certificate, the BOE sets out a temporary regime: it is entered in the register with make, model and serial number only. The aim, according to the text, is to improve road safety and protect potential accident victims. That identification is strictly temporary and ceases to have effect on 22 January 2027.

What the certificate guarantees

The certificate confirms that the vehicle meets the technical requirements of its manual. Among them, the BOE lists a minimum braking deceleration of 3.5 m/s2, a compulsory parking brake on vehicles with more than 2 wheels and a battery management module with temperature sensors that cuts the power if it overheats.

Compulsory third-party liability insurance

Law 5/2025 creates compulsory third-party liability insurance for light personal vehicles that may be ridden because they meet three conditions: they have a certificate of roadworthiness, they are entered in the DGT register and they carry a label with the registration number or, where applicable, a number plate.

The essentials of the law:

• Every owner must take out and keep in force insurance for each vehicle they own.
• The owner is released from that obligation if the insurance is taken out by another person with an interest in insuring it, who must state in what capacity they do so.
• The insurance covers Spain.
• It covers personal injury and material damage to those harmed in accidents involving these vehicles.
• Fines for not having it will be one third of those generally laid down in article 3.1.c) of the motor vehicle insurance law.

Cover extends to any use of the scooter as a means of transport at the time of the accident, regardless of the terrain and whether it is stationary or moving.

Why the information is contradictory

Search online and you will find texts saying a scooter needs no insurance. They are not lying, just out of date. The 2019 DGT instruction stated that VMPs required no authorisation to be used or ridden and no compulsory insurance, and the DGT magazine reported that same year that owners were not obliged to take it out. On 3 June 2024 the Government approved the bill imposing insurance, and Law 5/2025 has made it compulsory.

Where you may ride

According to the DGT, VMPs are banned from:

• Pavements.
• Pedestrian zones.
• Through-roads in built-up areas.
• Motorways and dual carriageways.
• Interurban roads.
• Urban tunnels.

Each town hall may regulate scooter use, and its bylaw sets out the permitted roads. Where there is no bylaw, riding on any urban carriageway is allowed.

Interurban roads: a new exception

Here the official sources do not fully agree. The DGT page keeps the general ban on interurban roads. However, a more recent royal decree published in the BOE qualifies that ban: it allows riding on cycle routes and, generally, on roads closed to motor vehicles, to make travel between municipalities easier, unless signs prohibit it. On ordinary roads the ban still stands.

Speed, helmets and other obligations

The speed of these vehicles must be between 6 and 25 km/h. In addition, according to the DGT magazine and the BOE:

• Protective helmet compulsory at all times.
• Reflective vest or item at night or in poor visibility, and at all times for those riding for work.
• Lights always on.
• Minimum age of 15 to ride a VMP.
• Only one person per scooter.
• No mobile phone use and no riding with headphones or earphones connected to audio devices.
• Obligation to take alcohol and drug tests, with the same general limits as other drivers.

As a general rule, the DGT points out that all traffic law obligations apply to scooter riders. Safety is no minor matter: in 2020, 8 people riding VMPs died, 7 on urban roads and 1 on an interurban road, where their use was banned.

How to buy and insure your scooter

Before paying, check the list of certified VMPs that the DGT publishes on its website to protect buyers. If the model is not on it, it will be no use to you from 22 January 2027.

Next, enter it in the Register of light personal vehicles via the DGT VMP registration page and fix the label. With the registration number you can then take out third-party liability insurance. The rules set minimum cover but no price for the policy.

Checks and fines

Officers can stop a scooter just like any other vehicle. These are the fines listed by the DGT:

• Riding without a helmet, or without a vest or reflective item when required: €200.
• Using a mobile phone while riding: €200.
• Riding on pavements or outside permitted roads: €200, serious offence.
• 2 or more people on the scooter: €100.
• Alcohol or drugs: the general limits apply, and the officer may immobilise and impound the vehicle.

If the device appears to perform beyond a VMP and does not comply with Regulation (EU) No 168/2013, the DGT instruction provides for much harsher penalties:

• Riding without administrative authorisation: €500.
• Riding without the relevant licence: €500.
• Riding without compulsory insurance: €1,000.
• In addition, immobilisation and impounding of the vehicle.

Those amounts come from a 2019 DGT instruction, which predates the 2025 insurance law. For scooters that are light personal vehicles, Law 5/2025 states that the fine for being uninsured will be one third of the general amount.

If the offender is a minor, their parents, guardians, foster carers and legal or de facto custodians, in that order, are jointly liable for the fine.

Exceptions and special cases

• Scooters with a saddle higher than 540 mm: not VMPs, and they need authorisation to be used and ridden.
• Scooters over 25 kg: for insurance purposes, they only count as light personal vehicles if their top speed is between 6 and 14 km/h.
• Uncertified scooters sold before 22 January 2024: temporary registration with make, model and serial number, valid until 22 January 2027.
• Municipal bylaws: each town hall may add its own rules, so what applies in one city may not apply in another.
• If you travel to Spain with your scooter, the traffic rules are the same for everyone, and the compulsory insurance covers Spain.

Checklist before you set off

• DGT VMP certificate or, if bought before 22 January 2024, temporary registration until 22 January 2027.
• Entry in the Register of light personal vehicles and a clearly visible label.
• Third-party liability insurance in force.
• Helmet on, plus a vest or reflective item at night or in poor visibility.
• Lights on.
• Route on a permitted carriageway or lane, never the pavement.
• Phone put away and no earphones.
• Zero alcohol and drugs.
• Only one person on board, aged at least 15.