Every list answers one question across all thirty-eight countries and names the field it reads. Two of them change with your registration and your drone. To weigh a few countries against each other, use the compare page.
Read from each brief's recognition field for your registration. A name with a dotted underline is partly confirmed; the country page shows which part.
The briefs track EU or EEA, UK and US registrations only. Registered anywhere else, open the country page: it says whether and how you register there.
The engine's answer for your profile, the same one the map and each country page give. Closed first, then permit per flight.
Closed to youDecided by registration. 5 place- or time-specific permits to plan around.
Closed to youDecided by customs.
Permit per flightDecided by a permit. 4 place- or time-specific permits to plan around.
Portugal (mainland and Azores)
Permit per flightDecided by a permit. 10 place- or time-specific permits to plan around.
The other 34 are open after a step. The note at the bottom of this page says why they are not ranked.
Closed to youDecided by registration. 5 place- or time-specific permits to plan around.
Closed to youDecided by customs.
Permit per flightDecided by a permit. 4 place- or time-specific permits to plan around.
Portugal (mainland and Azores)
Permit per flightDecided by a permit. 10 place- or time-specific permits to plan around.
The other 34 are open after a step. The note at the bottom of this page says why they are not ranked.
Closed to youDecided by registration. 5 place- or time-specific permits to plan around.
Closed to youDecided by customs.
Permit per flightDecided by a permit. 4 place- or time-specific permits to plan around.
Portugal (mainland and Azores)
Permit per flightDecided by a permit. 10 place- or time-specific permits to plan around.
The other 34 are open after a step. The note at the bottom of this page says why they are not ranked.
Closed to youDecided by registration. 5 place- or time-specific permits to plan around.
Closed to youDecided by customs.
Permit per flightDecided by a permit. 4 place- or time-specific permits to plan around.
Portugal (mainland and Azores)
Permit per flightDecided by a permit. 10 place- or time-specific permits to plan around.
The other 34 are open after a step. The note at the bottom of this page says why they are not ranked.
Closed to youDecided by registration. 5 place- or time-specific permits to plan around.
Closed to youDecided by customs.
Permit per flightDecided by a permit. 4 place- or time-specific permits to plan around.
Portugal (mainland and Azores)
Permit per flightDecided by a permit. 10 place- or time-specific permits to plan around.
The other 34 are open after a step. The note at the bottom of this page says why they are not ranked.
Closed to youDecided by registration. 5 place- or time-specific permits to plan around.
Closed to youDecided by customs.
Permit per flightDecided by a permit. 4 place- or time-specific permits to plan around.
Portugal (mainland and Azores)
Permit per flightDecided by a permit. 10 place- or time-specific permits to plan around.
The other 34 are open after a step. The note at the bottom of this page says why they are not ranked.
Closed to youDecided by registration. 5 place- or time-specific permits to plan around.
Closed to youDecided by customs.
Permit per flightDecided by a permit. 4 place- or time-specific permits to plan around.
Portugal (mainland and Azores)
Permit per flightDecided by a permit. 10 place- or time-specific permits to plan around.
The other 34 are open after a step. The note at the bottom of this page says why they are not ranked.
Closed to youDecided by registration. 5 place- or time-specific permits to plan around.
Closed to youDecided by customs.
Permit per flightDecided by a permit. 4 place- or time-specific permits to plan around.
Portugal (mainland and Azores)
Permit per flightDecided by a permit. 10 place- or time-specific permits to plan around.
The other 34 are open after a step. The note at the bottom of this page says why they are not ranked.
Closed to youDecided by registration. 5 place- or time-specific permits to plan around.
Closed to youDecided by customs.
Permit per flightDecided by a permit. 4 place- or time-specific permits to plan around.
Portugal (mainland and Azores)
Permit per flightDecided by a permit. 10 place- or time-specific permits to plan around.
The other 34 are open after a step. The note at the bottom of this page says why they are not ranked.
Closed to youDecided by registration. 5 place- or time-specific permits to plan around.
Closed to youDecided by customs.
Permit per flightDecided by a permit. 4 place- or time-specific permits to plan around.
Portugal (mainland and Azores)
Permit per flightDecided by a permit. 10 place- or time-specific permits to plan around.
The other 34 are open after a step. The note at the bottom of this page says why they are not ranked.
Closed to youDecided by registration. 5 place- or time-specific permits to plan around.
Closed to youDecided by customs.
Permit per flightDecided by a permit. 4 place- or time-specific permits to plan around.
Portugal (mainland and Azores)
Permit per flightDecided by a permit. 10 place- or time-specific permits to plan around.
The other 34 are open after a step. The note at the bottom of this page says why they are not ranked.
Closed to youDecided by registration. 5 place- or time-specific permits to plan around.
Closed to youDecided by customs.
Permit per flightDecided by a permit. 4 place- or time-specific permits to plan around.
Portugal (mainland and Azores)
Permit per flightDecided by a permit. 10 place- or time-specific permits to plan around.
The other 34 are open after a step. The note at the bottom of this page says why they are not ranked.
Practice level read from dated reports, strictest first, then by confirmed cases: reports we opened and dated ourselves. The count also follows how much the local press writes about drones, so it measures the record, not your odds of being stopped.
MoroccoStrictly enforced · 7 confirmed cases, 2015 to 2025
Seven dated press reports between May 2015 and September 2025: drones seized at two land borders and at an airport on departure, one Gendarmerie seizure inland, and two court convictions with prison terms and fines of nearly 40,000 and 80,000 dirhams. Nothing confirmed says a declared drone is given back.
SwedenEnforced · 32 confirmed cases, 2020 to 2026
Thirty-two dated cases from 2020 to 2026, from Swedish press and police, twelve with foreign pilots: people are caught at events, protected sites, airports and town centres, and nine fines of 1,500 to 64,000 SEK were located. Both park fines hit businesses. No case at customs or of a private visitor in the mountains.
LithuaniaEnforced · 26 confirmed cases, 2025 to 2026
26 dated cases from 2025-08 to 2026-06, all at the Vilnius, Kaunas and Palanga airports or strategic sites: detection finds the pilot, who is detained; fines imposed were 200 EUR. No case names a tourist. Nothing covers Old Town, Trakai, the Curonian Spit, the parks, the border zone or customs.
ItalyEnforced · 25 confirmed cases, 2019 to 2025
Twenty-five dated reports, 2019 to May 2025: in the monumental centres the pilot is identified, the drone seized and a criminal complaint follows, with fines imposed from 50 to 33,000 EUR. In parks the fine often arrives later, traced from the pilot's own footage. Nothing was found about open rural areas.
FinlandEnforced · 24 confirmed cases, 2018 to 2026
Twenty-four dated cases from 2018 to 2026, four with pilots from abroad: fines at event restrictions, on the eastern border and at protected sites. The one court amount found is 204 EUR, and forfeiture was refused. Nothing confirmed covers national parks, Lapland's tourist sites, Åland or customs.
EstoniaEnforced · 18 confirmed cases, 2018 to 2026
Eighteen dated cases from 2018 to 2026, three with visitors (Danish, Finnish, Polish): border guards fine uncoordinated flights in the border zone, 80 to 280 EUR, and military sites, events and Toompea see proceedings. Nothing confirmed covers national parks, the islands or customs.
NetherlandsEnforced · 18 confirmed cases, 2016 to 2026
18 dated cases from 2016 to 2026, most from the prosecution service's own releases: pilots are detected and fined from a EUR 250 starting point in airport and military zones, ports, events and the NATO summit, and night flying is charged as its own offence. Nothing located covers countryside, Natura 2000 or customs.
IrelandEnforced · 17 confirmed cases, 2021 to 2026
Nine IAA prosecutions between 2021 and 2026, each published with a name, a court and an amount, and each starting from a public complaint, a detection system or the pilot's own posted footage. Nothing on the record comes from a viewpoint, a park, a beach or a customs desk.
LatviaEnforced · 17 confirmed cases, 2017 to 2026
Seventeen dated cases from 2017 to 2026, mostly in Riga: detentions at Riga Castle and military sites, police patrols, airport stoppages with no pilot found. Fines located are 75 to 150 EUR; tourists were among ten grounded at the 2023 Song Festival. Nothing confirmed covers parks, Jūrmala, the coast or customs.
BelgiumEnforced · 14 confirmed cases, 2022 to 2026
Fourteen dated press reports, 2022 to 2026, none involving a visitor: police find pilots by detection at events, Kleine-Brogel air base, Antwerp and airports, and seize the drone. Two fines located, up to EUR 12,000. Nothing found for nature reserves, tourist towns, the countryside or customs.
DenmarkEnforced · 14 confirmed cases, 2022 to 2026
Denmark charges people and publishes the case: 14 dated cases from 2022 to 2026, drones and paired phones taken at Aalborg, three charges in two days on Bornholm including a 3,000 DKK fine for a German tourist. Nothing located covers beaches, cliffs, national parks or customs.
GermanyEnforced · 13 confirmed cases, 2018 to 2026
Thirteen dated cases from 2018 to 2026, almost all German police releases: pilots are identified and charged at airports, prisons, military and police sites, crowds, waterways and railways. No located case of anyone stopped flying in open countryside, in a national park, or at customs.
CzechiaEnforced · 11 confirmed cases, 2022 to 2026
Eleven dated cases, 2022 to 2026, from Czech press and police: drones seized at event zones, airports and heliports, pilots reported to ÚCL, whose 2025 fines were 10,000 Kč each. None names a foreign pilot, though 54 of 136 reported in 2024 were foreigners. No park, Castle or customs case found.
PolandEnforced · 10 confirmed cases, 2015 to 2026
Ten dated cases from 2015 to 2026, four with foreign pilots, nearly all at protected sites: government buildings, airports, a refinery, a mine, a base. Pilots were detained and charged; one fine located, 4,000 zł with deportation. No case at customs, on a beach, or for a missing DroneTower check-in.
Same reading, the other end: tolerated first, then patchy, each by confirmed cases. Patchy means some pilots were stopped and many were not, which is not the same as allowed.
MaltaTolerated in practice · 3 confirmed cases, 2019 to 2022
No fine, seizure or prosecution of a drone pilot was found in English or Maltese press, and in January 2023 the Transport minister told Parliament none had been brought. Three dated cases, 2019 to 2022, none with a visiting pilot; operators were never found. Nothing covers Comino, heritage sites or customs.
SpainPatchy enforcement · 15 confirmed cases, 2022 to 2026
Fifteen dated reports from August 2022 to August 2026, every one of them at an airport, a monument, a procession or event, or a declared emergency; none records an ordinary rural flight being stopped, and none records a fine actually paid.
NorwayPatchy enforcement · 10 confirmed cases, 2023 to 2026
Ten confirmed dated reports between May 2023 and October 2026 all come from an airport zone, central Oslo, a naval base or Svalbard; none describes a flight being stopped elsewhere, and none involves customs checking a drone at the border.
Portugal (mainland and Azores)Patchy enforcement · 10 confirmed cases, 2017 to 2026
Ten dated reports from 2017 to June 2026: every confirmed seizure happened at a policed event, an airport or a prison, and the citation named ANAC registration and the competence certificate. No stop is documented at a viewpoint or a park, and the Azores have no confirmed report at all.
CroatiaPatchy enforcement · 9 confirmed cases, 2022 to 2026
Nine dated cases, 2022 to 2026: an arrest and a criminal complaint in the Split airport zone, a near-miss at Dubrovnik, aerial firefighting grounded at Hvar, Murter and Vrsi, and three drones confiscated at Pula. No case found from coastal or island flying.
HungaryPatchy enforcement · 8 confirmed cases, 2016 to 2026
Eight dated cases from 2016 to 2026, one with a foreign pilot (a Singaporean whose drone hit a car on a Budapest bridge). Pilots were charged or reported at the airport, over the Danube, at rallies under closures and over political estates; no fine amount located. Nothing on mydronespace logging, Balaton or customs.
RomaniaPatchy enforcement · 8 confirmed cases, 2017 to 2026
Eight dated cases from 2017 to 2026, none with a visitor: the gendarmerie fines drones over Bucharest crowds and national events (2,000 to 15,000 lei) and an airport incursion led to a criminal case. Nothing confirmed covers the mountains, the Danube Delta, the coast, the castles or customs.
AustriaPatchy enforcement · 7 confirmed cases, 2016 to 2025
Nobody patrols: the state auditor found no routine drone checks, and charges follow an event, a complaint, a crash or a rescue-helicopter conflict. Four located fines run 600 to 1,300 EUR and one was annulled. Nothing confirmed on customs, on rangers, or on five of the six national parks.
Indonesia (Bali)Patchy enforcement · 7 confirmed cases, 2019 to 2026
Seven dated reports, 2019 to 2026: park rangers at Rinjani, Merbabu and Komodo stop flights in person, airport and event airspace reaches prosecutors, and no fine was reported paid and no foreigner deported over a drone anywhere in Indonesia. Nothing documents a routine check elsewhere.
New ZealandPatchy enforcement · 7 confirmed cases, 2018 to 2025
DOC logged 37 drone complaints in the 16 months to November 2021 and issued one $800 notice; the courts have acted only where a flight endangered an aircraft. Nothing confirmed here is newer than August 2025.
FrancePatchy enforcement · 6 confirmed cases, 2014 to 2026
Every penalty that could be opened came from a prohibited or temporarily restricted place: a Paris landmark, a protected monument, an Olympic zone, an erupting volcano, an aerodrome. Six confirmed press reports, February 2014 to September 2026.
SlovakiaPatchy enforcement · 6 confirmed cases, 2017 to 2022
Six dated cases, 2017 to 2022: pilots traced near airports and a military site, TANAP drones referred to inspectors. Fines are rare and small: 22 from the aviation authority in five years, two park fines of 20 EUR in all in 2025. No visitor, Slovenský raj, castle or customs case found; the record is old.
Faroe IslandsPatchy enforcement · 5 confirmed cases, 2019 to 2025
Police here do act on drone reports: in 2021 a foreign pilot was charged and his drone seized at a whale hunt, and another drone was shot down over one. Every case found involves a whale hunt, a warship or a complaint about flying near homes, and the most recent is from 2025.
JapanPatchy enforcement · 5 confirmed cases, 2015 to 2025
Thin evidence: five dated reports from 2015 to 2025, each one ending in the police referring a case to prosecutors at a palace garden, a city centre, an event or over a radio breach, and only one of them from the last three years. Nothing was found either way about rural flying, customs, or a fine actually paid.
SloveniaPatchy enforcement · 5 confirmed cases, 2018 to 2026
Five dated reports from 2018 to 2026, none with a pilot traced and none naming a visitor. CAA totals show fines every year, 19 totalling EUR 3,100 in 2025 to October, mostly for flying unregistered and in zones. No customs case, no Triglav park case and no fined tourist was found.
SwitzerlandPatchy enforcement · 5 confirmed cases, 2024 to 2026
Penalties are reported where a flight met an airport exclusion zone, a rescue operation or a closed disaster zone; in protected areas wardens say pilots usually leave before anyone arrives. Five confirmed reports, June 2024 to July 2026.
GreecePatchy enforcement · 4 confirmed cases, 2018 to 2026
Four dated reports between August 2018 and June 2026, all found in the Greek press. Every one is at a military installation or an archaeological monument, two ended in espionage charges, and one flight held HCAA permits and still drew a criminal complaint. Nothing confirmed covers beaches, viewpoints or customs.
Thirty-eight countries are briefed, and 34 of them come out as "Open after a step" for every registration and every weight we ask about. The step is usually a registration, often with insurance beside it, and sometimes a minimum age or a limit on how you fly.
Ranking them by how many rules apply would rank how finely each brief was written, not how hard the country is: one authority states a rule in a sentence, another in five. So each list above rests on a single fact, and the country page carries the rest.