Robotaxi

Before the year ends, Uber plans to offer robotaxis in Madrid. The technology belongs to WeRide, a company based in Guangzhou. The fleet is run by a subsidiary of Spain's largest ride-hail licence group, part-owned by Uber. The press and the Assembly bulletins consulted show no opposition initiative on the pilot.

Twenty WeRide GXR vehicles hold a testing permit from Spain's traffic authority, the DGT. The first phase concentrates on high-demand areas of Greater Madrid. Each carries a specialist on board who supervises it. The permit covers testing: mapping the city, validating routes and preparing operations.² The DGT's public list shows it as authorisation FVA-02/2026, in the name of Avomo Cars: 20 robotaxis at SAE Level 4, national scope, from 4 September 2026 to 3 September 2028, with zero serious incidents.⁴⁴ Commercial service will be booked through the Uber app. It is planned for before the end of 2026 and depends on operational and regulatory milestones the companies do not detail.² The stated plan is hundreds of vehicles and fully driverless service in core urban areas.¹

The project has three partners. Uber supplies the platform. WeRide, headquartered in Guangzhou and listed on Nasdaq, supplies the self-driving technology and the vehicle.³¹³³ Avomo runs the fleet. Avomo is the autonomous vehicle division of the Spanish group Moove Cars and manages autonomous fleets in Austin and Atlanta, around 400 vehicles.² Moove Cars is Spain's largest VTC ride-hail fleet, according to Merca2, and Uber holds a stake in it.³⁸¹⁹

The Community of Madrid appears as a collaborator from the first announcement, on 2 June.¹ Its transport chief, Jorge Rodrigo, confirms it at the time, according to eldiario.es.¹² On 10 September, regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso announces in the State of the Region debate a pilot of autonomous cars and taxis in Alcobendas and the capital, for two years, extendable. The official note names no companies, gives no number of vehicles and does not mention the DGT.³ That same day, WeRide, Uber and Avomo announce they hold Spain's first national Level 4 permit.² The DGT authorisation runs from 4 September.⁴⁴⁴

The regional government's note presents Madrid as "the first in Europe".³ Zagreb has had a commercial robotaxi service since 8 April 2026. Croatian company Verne launches it with technology from China's Pony.ai and with Uber as partner, also with operators on board.⁹

How it gets here

• 11 February 2026

  Uber announces it will deploy autonomous vehicles in Madrid before year end.¹¹

• 8 April

  Verne launches in Zagreb a commercial robotaxi service it presents as Europe's first.⁹

• 19 May

  Expansión reports that the Community of Madrid is preparing a pilot of autonomous ride-hail vehicles with Uber, Cabify and Bolt. Press reports cite 50 to 100 vehicles.¹⁰³⁹

• 2 June

  WeRide, Uber and Avomo announce Spain's first commercial robotaxi pilot, in collaboration with the Community of Madrid.¹

• 4 September

  The DGT authorises the three companies to operate Level 4 vehicles under the ES-AV programme.⁴⁴⁴

• 10 September

  Ayuso announces the regional pilot in the Assembly. The companies make the permit public.³²

• 20 and 21 October

  Waymo announces tests in Madrid, Alcobendas and Getafe and passengers in 2027. Bolt announces a Madrid programme for 2027 with Nvidia software and Lucid vehicles.¹³¹⁴ The DGT authorisation for Waymo covers 16 vehicles from 19 October.⁴⁴

• 27 and 28 October

  Madrid Autonomous Mobility Summit, organised by the consultancy FACTUAL and promoted by Madrid City Council.¹⁵⁴⁰

• Before 31 December

  Commercial start planned by the companies.²

What the DGT requires

The permit is granted under the ES-AV programme, governed by DGT Instruction VEH 2025/07. Its text is public.⁴⁵ The holder files a safety plan covering driving, operations and cybersecurity.⁶ Each vehicle carries a data recorder. Civil liability insurance is 5 million euros in the controlled phase and 10 million in the extensive and pre-deployment phases. The operator, on board or remote, is responsible for driving at all times.⁵ If connectivity is lost, the holder guarantees continuity or a minimal risk manoeuvre.⁴⁵

A serious incident or a collision requires immediate notice and a detailed report within 24 hours. Every six months the company sends the DGT its operating data, including distance driven, the GPS track and interventions. Every software update requires a statement of changes and a new verification if it affects the assessment. The DGT can suspend or revoke the authorisation at any time.⁴⁵ It also commits to publishing "basic information" on the tests.⁷

The programme has three phases. The first allows up to three vehicles and the second up to ten at once, always with an operator on board. The third, pre-deployment, allows more than ten vehicles and requires an on-board operator only if the system design calls for one.⁴⁵ The DGT's public list does not say which phase Avomo's authorisation is in.⁴⁴

The technology is accredited through one of three routes: an independent technical evaluation, recognition of an authorisation from another European Economic Area state, or a special route based on safety metrics from operations in other countries, which in exceptional cases accepts a self-declaration.⁶⁷ The DGT's list does not say which route WeRide uses either.⁴⁴

What the DGT does not ask for

The body of the Instruction makes no mention of source code. It does not set where remote operations centres must be, where data is stored or for how long. It asks the entity for an establishment in Spain or the European Economic Area. It gives the DGT no technical means to stop the vehicles: emergency disconnection belongs to the operator.⁴⁵ The DGT states it will not publish technology data covered by intellectual or industrial property.⁴⁴

Published information on the permit gives no detail on data handling, remote operations or the specific conditions of the authorisation.² The regional government's note does not address data, cybersecurity, liability or costs.³

Context weighs here. Article 7 of China's 2017 National Intelligence Law states that all organisations and citizens shall support, assist and cooperate with state intelligence work.²³ In early 2025 the United States adopts a rule banning the import or sale of connected vehicles with connectivity or automated driving software linked to China or Russia. It applies from model year 2027. Only software developed before 17 March 2026 and left unmodified afterwards stays outside it.²⁴⁴² Gina Raimondo, commerce secretary while the rule is being prepared, describes the worst case: a couple of million cars on the road and the software disabled.²⁵

The European Union has no blanket ban.⁴¹ In January 2026 the Commission proposes revising the Cybersecurity Act so it can restrict high-risk suppliers.²⁶ The other two deployments announced for Madrid run on US technology: Waymo, an Alphabet subsidiary, and Bolt, with Nvidia software and Lucid vehicles.¹³¹⁴

Two precedents

In 2015, researchers Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek take remote control of a Jeep Cherokee through its connected entertainment system. Fiat Chrysler recalls 1.4 million vehicles.²⁷ In January 2022, David Colombo, a 19-year-old German researcher, gains access to functions on more than 25 Teslas in 13 countries through a flaw in third-party software.⁴³ He says he cannot drive them remotely.²⁸

The DGT framework provides for remote operators and remote driving systems.⁵⁶ Today the Madrid permit covers twenty vehicles with a person on board. The plan the companies state is hundreds of vehicles and driverless service.¹

Who wins

The regional government says the pilot involves no new taxi licences and no new VTC authorisations.³ Moncloa.com reports in July that it will reuse up to a hundred existing VTC licences, with an additional autonomous transport authorisation attached. The outlet cites no document.²⁰ Decree 59/2026, which reforms Madrid's VTC regulation on 1 July, contains no reference to autonomous vehicles.²¹ The regional Mobility Law, which is meant to encourage the deployment of autonomous vehicles, is still being drafted.²² Sala.red has not located the rule that underpins that authorisation.

If access runs through existing licences, the map of holders matters. Three groups hold 60% of Madrid's VTC licences: Moove Cars, Auro and Vecttor, according to figures from the Sindicato Libre de Transporte published by Merca2. Uber owns 30% of Moove Cars and 30% of Auro.¹⁶¹⁸ Cabify owns Vecttor. Madrid has 9,570 active VTC licences and 16,026 taxis. Merca2 puts the price of a VTC licence in Madrid at around 180,000 euros, based on Wallapop listings.¹⁶

Moove Cars is Avomo's parent.² In August 2021, Vozpópuli reports that Uber buys 30% of the group for an initial 5 million dollars, an investment commitment of 185 million over eight years and a credit line of up to 230 million. Until then, the fund King Street Capital holds 70% and the company Mirtosan Spain the remaining 30%. Mirtosan's investors include Jaime Castellanos and Jon Riberas. An Uber executive for Europe, the Middle East and Africa joins the board at that point. The figures date from 2021.¹⁷

The regional government's note gives no figures on cost or public funding.³ Expansión reports that Uber "has committed to major investments" tied to Madrid, with no amount.¹⁰

The Assembly

Ayuso announces the pilot on Thursday 10 September. On Friday 11, Vox, PSOE and Más Madrid take the floor.³⁵ The accounts in eldiario.es and El Español cover the purchase of the Chamberí penthouse, housing, health care, education and the wildfires. Neither mentions autonomous cars.²⁹³⁰

Más Madrid has dealt with the sector's algorithms before: in 2025 it files a motion demanding transparency on the prices set by VTC platforms.³⁷ On the autonomous vehicle pilot, Sala.red finds no question, motion or request for documents from Más Madrid, PSOE or Vox in the press or in the Assembly bulletins reachable through search engines, published up to 29 October 2026.

What is known and what is missing

This piece rests on public documents and press reports, linked below.

Why it matters beyond Madrid

The Uber and WeRide agreement covers fifteen cities in the Middle East and Europe up to 2030. Madrid is the fourth.²³² WeRide describes the region as a key gateway for its European expansion.² Waymo and Bolt pick the same city for 2027.¹³¹⁴ The conditions Madrid sets, or leaves unset, on code, data and liability are the precedent other regulators will meet when they negotiate with the same companies.