Overview
- Spain’s Directorate General of Traffic issued the national Level 4 permit on Thursday, authorizing preparation activities that include mapping, route validation and operational‑readiness testing on public roads.
- The permit covers an initial 20 WeRide GXR vehicles in the Greater Madrid region and requires an in‑car specialist to ride in each vehicle during the testing phase.
- The DGT approval applies to vehicle testing under Spain’s ES‑AV programme and does not itself allow carrying fare‑paying passengers, which requires separate authorization from the Regional Government of Madrid.
- Under an asset‑light model, AVOMO (Moove Cars Group) will run the local fleet, WeRide supplies the autonomy software, and Uber will provide rider access through its app with companies saying commercial service is targeted by the end of 2026 but remains conditional on further regulatory and operational clearances.
- The Madrid permit is the latest step in the WeRide‑Uber push across Europe and abroad, counts as WeRide’s ninth global authorization, and may serve as a regulatory reference for future EU approvals that could speed wider robotaxi rollouts.