Legal challenges of drone integration in the city

Abstract

The irruption of drones in recent years plus the economic forecasts concerning a spectacular growth in its operations point to a futuristic scenario the includes the employment of drones for passenger and freight transportation. The likelihood that many of these flights will be operated over urban areas pose some new legal challenges about their integration into the airspace. This paper
addresses the main issues concerning drone overflight of urban areas from the perspective of local law. It first analyses the existing European and Spanish regulations and the distribution of competences between different administrations. Then, it analyses the imposition of flight restrictions on certain areas, the implementation of a municipal authorization for drone flights, the construction
of infrastructures for drone take-off and landing, and the imposition of municipal taxes.