Spain: the consignment note goes digital on 5 October — and cabotage counts

From 5 October 2026, the control document for the carriage of goods inside Spain can no longer be a sheet of paper filled in by hand. It becomes the DeCA — Documento electrónico de Control Administrativo — generated by computer, in PDF, with a QR code the inspector reads at the roadside.

The deadline comes from Law 9/2025 on Sustainable Mobility, which allowed ten months from entry into force for the switch. The technical detail was set by the Resolution of 5 June 2026 of the Directorate-General for Land and Rail Transport, published in BOE No 143 of 12 June (BOE-A-2026-12784). That is the governing text — everything below comes from it.

Who is caught

The line that matters most to foreign hauliers is this: besides domestic Spanish transport, the DeCA applies to cabotage operations on national territory. The CETM, which summarised the rule for its members, makes the same point.

In other words: if you load in Valencia and unload in Seville under cabotage rules, you need a DeCA from 5 October. If you load in Porto and unload in Madrid, you do not — international transport that merely crosses part of Spanish territory continues to use the documents provided for in the conventions, starting with the CMR.

It is a distinction worth being clear about before enforcement makes it for you.

What the document must contain

The content is the same as ever — the data listed in article 6 of Order FOM/2861/2012. What changes is the form, and here the resolution is meticulous:

• Native PDF. A scanned sheet does not qualify. The file must be born digital, from structured data, with a 5 MB limit.
• A QR code pointing to a unique address for the document, reachable over HTTPS, with no credentials or login required.
• A timestamp for creation and for every change. If the document is corrected, the previous version is kept and the driver must receive the updated one.
• Available for download during the job and for up to seven days after it ends.
• A signature is not required — the rule does not make it a condition of validity.

The driver must have the DeCA before starting the job: on the phone, showing the PDF or just the QR code. A printed copy may be carried, but note this: handwritten notes on a printed copy have no validity. The habit of adding a line in pen to the consignment note is over.

Several consignments may travel on a single DeCA, provided the contractual shipper and the actual carrier are the same for all of them and the origin, destination, nature and weight of each consignment are identified.

What to do in the coming weeks

There are less than four weeks left. If you run cabotage in Spain, there are three questions to ask now:

1. Does your management software issue a DeCA? Many TMS and e-CMR applications already advertise the format; others will need an update or a change of supplier. This is not a setting to configure the night before.
2. Where are the files hosted? The rule requires a repository reachable at a public URL during the job and for seven days afterwards. Whoever generates the documents has to guarantee that hosting.
3. Do the drivers know what to show? In practice, opening the QR code is enough. It is worth testing with a real phone, in the cab, before a Guardia Civil officer is the one asking.

The Spanish Ministry of Transport has a dedicated DeCA page and a list of frequently asked questions answering most application doubts. In case of discrepancy, the BOE text prevails.

Update of 11 September: mind the supplier

Fenadismer warns that, comparing the technology solutions already on the market for issuing the DeCA, it found price differences of up to 1,000% between the most expensive and the cheapest offer for the same basic service — with workable options from 5 euros a month.

More serious than the price: some solutions do not meet the legal requirements of the resolution — the document comes out incomplete in the data it has to record — which shifts the administrative liability onto whoever uses it, not whoever sold it. The advice is to compare price and compliance before signing, and not to assume that the dearest option follows the rule best.

One more reminder: the obligation does not end with issuing the document. The contractual shipper and the actual carrier must keep the electronic files generated for at least one year.