A major holiday destination beloved by British tourists has introduced new laws set to further regulate a popular means of transport.
The Andalusia region, an autonomous community in southern Spain, brought in on January 1 new measures targeting the use of e-scooters.
This electric two-wheel means of transport has grown particularly popular in touristy areas, partly due to how easy it is to use and also because, in many nations, it doesn’t require a licence to be driven and go around seaside towns and cities.
Since Monday (January 1), however, locals and British tourists thinking of picking an e-scooter up in Andalusia will need to be up-to-date with the new regulations to unpleasant surprises.
The new measures include a ban on bringing e-scooters on public transport including buses, boats and metro trains.
This move comes in the wake of numerous reports of fires erupting on public transport as a result of e-scooters.
Andalusia is not the first Spanish area to implement this measure, as reported by the Olive Press. Major Spanish cities including Madrid and Mallorca had previously banned e-scooters on public networks.
A further, major, regulation regarding e-scooter will also come into force on January 21, in line with the National Traffic Department’s decision to only allow the sale of certified ‘Personal Travel Vehicles’.
From this date, new e-scooters will need to be certified as PTV before they can be put on the market and used. Those sold before January 21 can still be used, but only until a provisional date of 2027.
The new regulations introduced this year by the local Ministry of Development, Planning and Housing come after the Universidad de Sevilla and Seville’s transport network released two reports on the safety of e-scooters.
Tourists thinking of grabbing an e-scooter to use in Andalusia will also need to remember other regulations that have already been embraced in the area – including that it is forbidden to ride them on pavements and protective helmets must be worn.
The whole of Spain is an attractive destination for British tourists. In 2022, the number of residents from the United Kingdom visiting Spain amounted to 15.1 million, according to data shared by officials and tourism bodies.
Out of this total, 2.3 million people headed to areas in Andalusia – which include the Costa del Sol and Almeria – as noted by the Spanish National Institute of Statistics.
