We’re super excited today as we’ve just received our Spanish AESA 25kg Heavy Lift Drone Operating License.

In the past, we’ve only been licensed to fly drones up to 15kg, but as of today we’re able to fly any drone up to the legal maximum of 25kg in Spanish Airspace. This opens the doors to us carrying bigger cameras such as the Arri Alexa Mini and Red Helium with bigger lenses and lens control options.

Flying a drone in Spain is a lot more complicated than many assume. In fact, very few countries have stricter regulations regarding the use of drones. Ever since Spain’s rules of drone laws in August 2015, one can now incur a fine of circa €400,000. Why?

Spain deems the act of flying a drone to be dangerous and reminiscent of military drones and to protect their nation from any incoming terrorist attack, various military forces are constantly watching the air space for suspicious activity. If your drone shows up, it could put the country on red alert and waste valuable governmental resources and time in preventing a false attack. And for those who think that Spain’s rules are a case of all bark, no bite: the Spanish government has collected over €3.5 million from drone fines alone since 2015.

Over the past two years we’ve been involved with a number of projects in Spain, including the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge, Four Mums in a Boat Documentary for National Geographic and two San Miguel Commercials for the “Life Rich” campaign.