Personal mobility vehicles (PMV) and cycles with more than two wheels
The way we move around the city is changing. The personal vehicles we are choosing are more and more practical and sustainable, giving us the independence to travel where and when we want. Scooters or electric wheels and cycles with more than two wheels are becoming more common on the streets of Barcelona.
Since July 2017, personal mobility vehicles (PMV) and cycles with more than two wheels have had their own regulations for the safety and protection of their users and a harmonious relationship with other pedestrians and vehicles on the public highway. The regulations govern personal motor vehicles, such as PMVs, and cycles with more than two wheels for commercial and lucrative use, whether motor or mechanical.
The minimum age for driving PMVs or cycles with more than two wheels is 16. When transporting people in an authorised vehicle (type C0 or C1), drivers must be of age (18 years old) to drive them.
It is obligatory to take out third-party civil liability insurance if you are carrying out commercial activities. For personal use, this insurance is recommended.
Changes to regulations from 2 January 2021
The Spanish cabinet approved a Royal Decree on 10 November last year amending the general traffic regulations and the general regulations for vehicles relating to urban traffic measures.
The text also regulates the technical requisites and conditions for personal mobility vehicles, which now become formally defined as vehicles and consequently are prohibited from circulating on pavements and in pedestrianised areas.
In terms of personal mobility vehicles, Barcelona already amended its by-laws on the circulation of pedestrians and vehicles in 2017, determining the conditions for these vehicles to circulate in a bid to make their use compatible with pedestrians and other forms of mobility.
Today’s approval for the Royal Decree makes a national framework available that classifies PMVs as vehicles and sets out the requisites for them to circulate, based on a manual of technical specifications, at the same time making it obligatory to have a road-use certificate.
Classifying them as vehicles also represents significant progress in terms of road safety, as it ensures they do not circulate on the pavements and now sets out the technical features they must have, offering greater safety in both these respects.
The decree came into force on 2 January 2021.
