From January 2, 2026, riding an electric scooter or certain electric bicycles without insurance in Spain will be punishable by a penalty comparable to that of a car: fines of up to €1,000 and immobilization of the vehicle. This is stipulated in Law 5/2025, recently approved by Congress, which amends the Law on Civil Liability and Motor Vehicle Insurance, adapting the European Directive 2021/2118 and extending the compulsory nature of the policy to thousands of new users.
Who is affected by the compulsory insurance?
The obligation covers all electric scooters (personal mobility vehicles, PMVs) and electric bicycles that exceed 250 watts of power or can travel at more than 25 km/h, including those with accelerator or electric assistance without pedaling (category L1e-B, equivalent to mopeds). Insurance will be required for both urban and interurban routes, and also applies to delivery, rental or company fleets. Conventional bicycles and lower-performance electric bicycles are exempt.
Whoever owns one of these vehicles will have to take out liability insurance before July 2, 2026. The insurance will cover personal and material damages to third parties in the event of an accident, effectively equating it to a car or motorcycle policy. As a novelty, the DGT will launch a national registry of personal mobility vehicles: owners will have to register their scooters and bicycles subject to the new regulation, which facilitates identification for controls and sanctions. It will be necessary to have a certificate of circulation and an identification label.
Fines: as if you were driving a car
The law establishes that, after the transitional period, driving without insurance will be sanctioned in the same way as any passenger car. Although the minimum penalty foreseen is around a third of that for cars (601- 3,005 €), in practice the fines will range between 200 and 1,000 € for electric scooter users, depending on severity and recidivism. In addition, if the vehicle is not registered, it could be immobilized. In the event of an accident, the Insurance Compensation Consortium may claim the amount of damages from the user if the policy was not in force.