Where can you fly a drone in Gipuzkoa? | The Basque Newspaper

Who was going to tell Dani Tena (Donostia, 1970) when he was doing his final project with an ultralight on a hill in Ávila that his dream would come true, that this small aircraft would be reduced in size until it became in a drone "I was wondering if one day we could achieve that and it ended up coming in 2012." Because that year they bought the first drone in Gipuzkoa. It cost 40,000 euros. He had barely half an hour of autonomy. And in six years the prices have been lowered, the devices modernized and the use simplified. But where can you fly a drone in Gipuzkoa? Can it be used anywhere? In the cities? In the countryside? Do I need any special permission? What fines do we face? We are going to answer all these questions in a conversation in which our protagonist provides us with the keys to the latest regulations on the recreational and professional use of this technology.

The Bidasoa institute where he works was a pioneer at the state level in training drones and today they are focused on professional uses: «We teach the students of the cycle of civil works projects the technique of handling drones, We provide official certificates, we help draft manuals and the technical part of professional work, such as photography, video, cartography, remote sensing... The future? It will be linked to the massive taking of data collection ». The key to this whole process is that there was a revolution in software, in the speed of computer processors, in the improvement of camera sensors, in image processing...

Although he has no qualms about admitting there was a bubble: «The drone is a tool, nothing more. There has been a certain bubble in terms of training, because it seemed that driving them would be a profession and it is not. You have to be a professional at something and the drone is one more tool. A surgeon has a scalpel but a scalpel does not make you a surgeon.

To practice, they move to the left orographic margin of Orio, outside the area of ​​reach of the Hondarribia airport, and they have also carried out work in the interior of the territory (Billabona, for example). But it must be noted that at this time you cannot fly a drone in Donostialdea, Eibar and the natural parks, protected by specific regulations. Whoever does it and is hunted is exposed to fines that can range from 6,000 euros to 225,000. Little joke. Also, they cannot fly more than 120 meters high and 500 meters away. Neither fly over agglomerations of buildings nor over people. From the sources consulted, it all boils down to the fact that drones can only be flown in rural areas far from the areas of influence of Hondarribia and Loiu where there are no buildings or people. If you have any questions, you can check this link and clear up your doubts after filling out a short questionnaire: https://drones.enaire.es/

Regarding training, in the previous regulations only ATOs (aviation training schools approved by AESA) had this possibility. The latest regulations are more permissive and, in theory, allow ultralight schools to also give classes. They can give the theoretical and practical certificates, and the radio operator part (exclusive to aviation).

In Tena's opinion, the use of drones «will continue to be popular but I think that people will not fly with the joy of before. You are going to have to think about it, go to remote areas, set up other spaces to have fun... Something similar to what happened with model airplanes. Recreational use cannot be mixed with professional use. That has to be separated very well. Because a well-used drone allows us to do jobs that until recently were unthinkable, but a drone misused to do misdeeds is enormously dangerous."

In the last regattas, for example, the Ertzaintza has carried out monitoring with drones to control masses of people. The reason is that the crowds are monitored much better from the air. Hence, massive events such as the Tamborrada, complicated days of traffic or rescue work or search for the missing are very appropriate for this technology.

On the use of the devices and the laws, Dani provides us with one last headline: "Handling a drone is something trivial, the biggest problem is complying with the regulations."