Spots · Madeira (Portugal) · Mountain · Central massif

Pico do Arieiro

The 1,818 m peak above the cloud sea, inside the Natural Park's central massif; IFCN authorisation is required.

Permit per flight for this profile · last checked 2026-10-07

The two readings

By the book

What the official pages say, for an operator registered in the EU or EEA flying the drone you chose above.

Madeira (Portugal), for you: Open after a stepDecided by registration, Remote ID, minimum age. 1 place- or time-specific permit to plan around.
This ground, today: Permit per flightInside the Parque Natural da Madeira (central massif): IFCN authorisation before the flight.

Ground rules in force on 7 October 2026

Inside the Parque Natural da Madeira (central massif): IFCN authorisation before the flight.
Permit per flight · confirmed
- S9ANAC Registo, Sistema de Registo de UAS · ANAC

On the ground

Too few confirmed reports to say4 dated reports, 2026-01-20 to 2026-08-30 · practice pass 2026-10-07

One case is confirmed: a video near Madeira Airport was reported to ANAC and the police in August 2026 with no offence established at the time. Nothing we could open records a fine, a seizure or a stop anywhere else, and the community threads behind the wider reading were unreachable.

Reports that name Pico do Arieiro

PR1 trail viewpoints between Pico do Arieiro and Pico Ruivo · hotspot
[unverified] A July 2026 r/Madeira thread is reported to say many of the viewpoints visitors have in mind are restricted and need an application submitted in advance. The thread could not be opened, and no stop or penalty is reported there.

Where it is

32.7356, -16.9289: a gazetteer position good to a few hundred metres, not a launch point. The scale bar is on; the pin carries your status here.

Launch notes

Wind funnels between the peaks; the summit car park fills before sunrise in summer.

Best time

Cloud inversion at dawn

Nearest aerodrome: Dr. Nélio Mendonça Hospital Heliport (LPCC, heliport), 9.8 km (computed 2026-10-07).

Mountain ridge above cloud, placeholder image — placeholder (Lovable prototype image, generated) · placeholder, not for publication · AI-generated image

Field notes

What happened on the ground here, from pilots who flew it, dated and kept apart from the official rules.

No field notes yet.

Last checked 2026-10-07. Newer than that? Look here:

Rules move between our checks. These are the pages that publish the changes first, split into the official ones and the places where pilots report what is happening.

Back to the Madeira (Portugal) card · Autoridade Nacional da Aviação Civil (ANAC)

Official pages

ANAC, UAS operator registrationofficial
The registration and insurance rules page. It stamps its own revisions, currently 5 February 2026, so a change to what a visiting operator must do shows up here first.
ANAC, UAS geographic zones mapofficial
The authoritative zone consultation. A new or widened prohibition zone appears here before anyone writes about it.
ANAC UAS registration portalofficial
The portal itself; changes to the registration process and product safety alerts show on its front page. It carries no news feed, so read it against the registration page above.
IFCN drone authorisation on SIMplificaofficial
The regional service for flying over the Parque Natural da Madeira and Natura 2000 sites; a change to the form, the fee or the lead time lands here. It is a JavaScript application, so open it in a browser rather than fetching it.

Where pilots report

Diario de Noticias da Madeirapress
The regional daily that broke the August 2026 airport case and ran the fact-check the same day. Portuguese, publishing daily.
Madeira Island Newspress
The English-language local paper that carried the airport case; the quickest read if you do not have Portuguese.
TripAdvisor Madeira Islands forumcommunity
Where visitors ask before travelling and post trip reports, 15,932 topics and active this week. Stands in for r/Madeira, which the verification pass could not open.
DronesGator, Portugal rules pageoperator
A commercial summary that is kept current and is worth a glance for rule changes. Treat its fine figures with care: the 300 to 7,500 euro range it states appears on no official page we opened.