From 1 October 2026 the person hiring a motorboat of up to 5 metres and up to 15 CV in Spain must hold a licence. Until 30 September 2026 nothing changes: a boat in that class is hired without one — no further than 2 nautical miles from the port, in daylight only and from the age of 18. The change comes from RD 1188/2025, whose article 4 rewrites article 10 of RD 875/2014 so that the exemption is kept for private and sporting use only. Jet skis fall outside the rule: a separate paragraph takes them out of it.
- What exactly changes on 1 October 2026
- Who it applies to: the boat you drive yourself
- Who it does not apply to: jet skis
- Who it does not apply to: a skippered boat and a licensed renter
- What to do about a booking you have already paid for
- Which licence counts
Important
The dates here come from the decree itself. RD 1188/2025 has been in force since 31 December 2025, but this particular amendment, under point 2 of the second final provision, «entrará en vigor el día 1 de octubre de 2026».
What changes on 1 October 2026?
The old wording of article 10 of RD 875/2014 let you go without a nautical qualification on a motorboat of up to 5 metres and up to 15 CV with no power-reducing device. The new wording keeps the same exemption and adds two words to it: «No será preciso estar en posesión de las titulaciones náuticas… a) Para el uso privado de embarcaciones de recreo a motor de hasta 5 metros de eslora y con una potencia nominal máxima de 15 CV, sin dispositivo reductor de potencia». Private use is not hire, and the preamble says so plainly: «en cambio, en los casos de arrendamiento de estas embarcaciones, el arrendatario deberá estar en posesión del título correspondiente».
The other two cases in the same article are not about a motorboat: the sporting use of sailing boats up to 6 metres, and the handling of beach craft. The conditions are shared: «no se permitirá que las embarcaciones o artefactos se alejen más de 2 millas náuticas del puerto, marina o playa de salida y la actividad se realizará en régimen de navegación diurna», and «es requisito necesario haber cumplido 18 años». A separate paragraph settles the jet skis: «Se exceptúan de este régimen las motos náuticas».
| What you take | To 30.09.2026 | From 01.10.2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Motorboat up to 5 m and 15 CV, you drive | No licence: 2 nautical miles, daylight, from 18 | The renter needs a licence — «el título correspondiente» |
| Sailing boat up to 6 metres, sporting use | No licence, same conditions | Exemption kept for sporting use |
| Jet ski | Its own regulation, not this article | Unchanged: «Se exceptúan… las motos náuticas» |
| Boat with the operator’s skipper | The guest needs no licence | Unchanged |
| Boat over 5 m or over 15 CV | A licence is needed already | Unchanged |
Who it applies to: the boat you drive yourself
The amendment hits exactly one format — the hire of a small motorboat handed over to you with no crew. Two departures in Spain work this way, and both run without a licence until 30 September 2026.
Valencia: the 5-metre Arrecife rental — €139 per boat for an hour, up to five people, keys handed over at Marina Norte after a short briefing.
Ibiza: the East Boats hire from Santa Eulària — €250 per boat for an eight-hour day, up to seven aboard.
Fuerteventura is the third case, and it has already moved. In Morro Jable, Rent a Boat Fuerteventura let its Voraz 3.85 go out without a licence through 30 September 2026 — €200 per boat for three hours, up to four people, and the operator itself listed the five conditions under which no licence was asked for. From 1 October 2026 it hands that boat over without a skipper only to a renter who holds a qualification: «como mínimo el PNB; Patrón para la navegación básica».
Who it does not apply to: jet skis
Jet skis are taken out of this article in so many words: «Se exceptúan de este régimen las motos náuticas». The new wording says nothing about them — jet-ski hire lives by its own rules, and 1 October 2026 changes nothing there. An example: the cove ride from Cala de Bou on Ibiza — €104 per jet ski for thirty minutes, up to two riders, with a guide alongside.
Who it does not apply to: a skippered boat and a licensed renter
If the operator’s own skipper is at the helm, your licence never comes up — you are a guest aboard. If you hold a licence, you take the same boat before and after 1 October. An example of the skippered route: the Blue Ocean charter from Marina Ibiza — €575 per boat for an eight-hour day, up to seven aboard; the skipper is an option here, and with one the amendment changes nothing.
Fuerteventura answers the same way: a private trip with a skipper out of Morro Jable — €300 per boat for three hours for one to four people, with fuel, drinks, snacks and the hotel transfer inside the price.
What to do about a booking you have already paid for
Look at the date of the departure, not the date of payment. A departure up to and including 30 September 2026 needs nothing from you: the rule does not reach it. A departure on 1 October 2026 or later: write to the operator and ask how it will handle the hire after that date — whether it can still hand the boat to someone without a licence, whether it will ask for the qualification, whether it has a skippered option, and on what terms it moves a date or refunds.
Important
We cannot know in advance what a given operator will answer. The decree introduces no automatic refund, assigns nobody a skipper, and does not oblige an operator to arrange a licence for you. All of that is a matter of your contract with them, so ask in writing and ask early.
Which licence counts
The decree names no course at all. It says exactly one thing: the renter «deberá estar en posesión del título correspondiente» — must hold the relevant qualification. What it is relevant to is not spelled out in that phrase, and we are not going to invent a list on the BOE’s behalf: which document fits your boat and your sailing area is for the operator or the port authority to say. The text itself is on boe.es — the source, not a retelling.
The hubs where this rule lands: boat rental in Valencia, boat rental on Ibiza and boat rental on Fuerteventura.
