Guide · Aerial
Drone rules for photographing a villa in Spain: what to check before any flight
Whether a drone can fly at a particular villa in Spain depends on its exact address. This guide lists what to check first, with links to the official sources.
Sample image, licensed stock. Credits
Who sets the rules
Civil drone flights in Spain fall under the EU rules for unmanned aircraft (Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/947) and the national Royal Decree 517/2024, published in the BOE on 5 June 2024. AESA, the State Aviation Safety Agency, runs the operator register and publishes guidance on its drones pages.
A Supreme Court judgment of 19 June 2025, published in the BOE on 11 July 2025, annulled one section of the decree: Section 3 of Chapter VI, which concerns registers kept by the Ministry of the Interior. The articles cited below are not part of that section. Still, read the current consolidated text before you rely on any of this.
The basics for a camera drone
Height, sight and people
AESA’s page on open-category operations states a maximum flight height of 120 metres above the nearest point of the ground, and that the drone must stay within the remote pilot’s visual line of sight. It also requires a safe horizontal distance from people who are not taking part, and no flights over crowds.
Registration and insurance
AESA’s operator registration page says registration is free and done through its electronic office. In the open category it applies when the aircraft carries a sensor able to capture personal data, such as a camera, unless the aircraft complies with the Toy Directive. The registration number must be shown on the operator’s drones.
AESA’s pages also set out insurance requirements, which depend on the type of operation. I do not summarise them here. Check with AESA what applies to your flight.
Where you may not fly, or only with conditions
The decree defines UAS geographical zones (Articles 36 to 45). The general zones include:
- prohibited and restricted zones for defence, national interests and public safety, restricted zones for environmental protection, and zones restricted to photographic flight (Article 37);
- the surroundings of aerodromes and heliports, where drone operation is prohibited unless it is coordinated with the aerodrome manager or the air traffic service (Articles 41 and 43);
- controlled airspace and flight information zones (Article 42);
- urban environments, covered in the next section (Article 40).
AESA points to the ENAIRE Drones map for these zones. It is the first thing to open for any address. Temporary zones also exist (Article 37), so the answer can change between two dates.
Urban areas, and flying over a house
Article 40 defines an urban environment as a built-up population centre, a residential, commercial or industrial area that has, cumulatively, road access, paved pedestrian streets, drainage and public lighting, or a public recreational area, beaches included. A villa in an urbanisation with those services may fall inside the definition, and a rural plot may not. It is a question about the address.
In an urban environment, as the article is written:
- an operator who has to register must notify the Ministry of the Interior at least five calendar days before the operation, and local public-safety authorities can limit or forbid it;
- in the open category the drone must not fly over buildings, houses or any dwelling, including its gardens, patios and similar recreational areas, public or private, unless the competent body, or the owner or administrator, has granted an exemption on request before the operation.
The second rule is why consent matters in villa photography: the house being photographed is itself such a dwelling, and the exemption has to be in place before the flight. Operations in the specific category follow other conditions. Check with AESA which category applies to your flight.
Privacy and neighbours
The owner’s consent covers the owner’s property. Neighbouring plots, their pools and terraces, and any person who can be identified are separate matters. Spain’s data protection authority, the AEPD, publishes a guide on drones and personal data: read it if a shoot may capture identifiable people.
In practice: choose viewpoints where a neighbour’s garden is not the subject, tell neighbours in advance if a flight will pass close, and ask the community administrator whether the urbanisation has rules of its own.
What I check before every flight
For the exact address, before the shoot day:
- The address on the ENAIRE Drones map, including any temporary zone.
- Whether an aerodrome or heliport is close enough to create a zone.
- Controlled airspace and flight information zones.
- Environmental-protection areas and zones restricted to photographic flight.
- Whether the plot is inside an urban environment, and what that requires.
- The owner’s consent, and which parts of the property it covers.
- Neighbouring plots and people who could be in frame.
- Weather, wind and visibility on the day.
If any check fails, I do not fly, and I tell you before you commit. The plan then relies on ground and interior frames.
Questions to ask any drone operator
- Which zones apply at my address, and where did you check?
- Can you show your AESA operator registration number?
- What insurance applies to this flight? AESA’s requirements depend on the type of operation.
- Do you need my written consent, and for which parts of the property?
- What happens if the flight is not possible on the day?