Mandatory in Spain from 5 October 2026
DeCA: Spain's road freight control document goes electronic — and it covers cabotage by foreign carriers
The DeCA (electronic administrative control document) is Spain's long-standing control document — Orden FOM/2861/2012 — as a PDF with a QR code the roadside officer downloads. If you unload in Spain and then take a Madrid → Seville load before heading home, that leg needs a DeCA. Here is what it is, who it applies to, the 8 data items, who is liable for each, and a free tool to check your file.
What the DeCA is and what changes on 5 October
The Spanish administrative control document is not new: the current rule is Orden FOM/2861/2012, before it Orden FOM/238/2003. Many companies already comply without naming it, because their delivery note, consignment note or ADR transport document carries the required data.
What changes is the medium. The eighth transitional provision of Ley 9/2025 on Sustainable Mobility makes it «necessarily digital» ten months after entry into force (5 December 2025): 5 October 2026. The Resolution of 5 June 2026 defines the file: a natively digital PDF with a QR code pointing to a direct-download URL.
The DeCA does not remove paper from the cab; it removes paper as a valid control document. The ADR transport document, the instructions in writing and the driver's certificate remain exactly as they are.
Who it applies to — and who it does not
Applies
- Domestic public road haulage: origin and destination in Spain.
- Cabotage: domestic legs in Spain performed by a carrier established in another country — Portugal, France, Poland, Romania, Lithuania, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy…
- All goods, dangerous or not.
Does not apply
- International transport into or out of Spain: governed by the CMR convention, Spanish leg included.
- Own-account transport (own vehicles, own goods).
- Art. 2 exemptions: parcel services, removals, broken-down vehicles, transport not requiring an operator licence.
Delivering into Spain from another EU country?
This is the case that raises most questions, and the Resolution settles it in its preamble. Two different situations for the same truck:
International transport. Documented with the CMR consignment note, Spanish leg included. The DeCA does not apply to that journey.
That is cabotage: a transport with origin and destination in Spain. From 5 October it needs a DeCA — a PDF with a QR hosted at a URL — whatever the country your company is established in. And every cabotage leg needs one: Regulation (EC) 1072/2009 allows up to three within seven days of the international delivery.
Your CMR consignment note can serve as the DeCA if it carries the 8 data items of art. 6 and expressly identifies the cargador contractual and the transportista efectivo — but the file must still meet the technical requirements.
The 8 data items of art. 6 and who is liable for each
Eight letters, not seven: item e) was added in 2019 and everything shifted one letter; most summaries in circulation still use the old numbering. Art. 7, corrected in March 2026 by Orden TRM/282/2026, allocates liability as follows:
| § | Data item | Liable |
|---|---|---|
| a) | Name, tax ID (NIF) and address of the cargador contractual | Cargador contractual |
| b) | Name and NIF of the transportista efectivo | Cargador contractual |
| c) | Place of origin and destination of the consignment | Cargador contractual |
| d) | Nature and weight of the goods | Cargador contractual |
| e) | Special circulation permit, where the vehicle travels under one | Transportista efectivo |
| f) | Date the transport is performed | Transportista efectivo |
| g) | Registration plates of tractor and semi-trailer; change of vehicle en route | Transportista efectivo |
| h) | Remarks and reservations | Whoever adds them |
The cargador contractual is whoever contracts directly with the transportista efectivo (art. 4): it may be the factory, but also a logistics operator, a freight forwarder or another carrier that subcontracts. The ADR consignor is not necessarily the cargador contractual, and the document must label the role with those exact words.
Full analysis on the blog: The ADR document as a DeCA — the item-by-item comparison, the 5.4.1.1.1 rule on where to add fields, and the eFTI door.
Sources: Orden FOM/2861/2012, consolidated text as of 28/03/2026 (BOE-A-2013-154) · Ley 9/2025, DT 8.ª (BOE-A-2025-24545) · Resolution of 5 June 2026 (BOE-A-2026-12784) · Regulation (EC) 1072/2009. Informative content: it assists the responsible person, does not decide for them and does not replace reading the official texts or the advice of a Dangerous Goods Safety Adviser. State of the rules as of 13/09/2026.
DeCA technical checker (Spain)
Paste the URL carried by the QR code of your Spanish electronic administrative control document and we do what the roadside officer would do: call it, see whether the PDF downloads, and whether that PDF meets the technical requirements of the Resolution of 5 June 2026. Results are shown in Spanish.
What it checks
- https:// URL with TLS 1.2 or higher and a valid certificate (section Tercero.1)
- Direct PDF download: no login, no buttons, no intermediate page (Tercero.3 and 4)
- Size of 5 MB or less (Segundo.1)
- Digitally native PDF, not scanned (Segundo.2)
- Creation and modification date metadata (Segundo.1)
- QR code inside the PDF, carrying the URL of that same document (Segundo.3)
What it does not check: the content required by art. 6 of Orden FOM/2861/2012 (cargador contractual, transportista efectivo, plates…) nor the availability of the URL throughout the service. That is what the 14-point checklist of the DeCA 2026 Kit is for. DeCA 2026 Kit — combined ADR + DeCA template, checklist and technical sheet.
Indicative technical check under the Resolution of 5 June 2026 (BOE-A-2026-12784). The PDF is analysed in memory and never stored; the URL is not logged. It assists the responsible person; it does not decide for them nor replace data verification or the advice of a Dangerous Goods Safety Adviser.
We log your IP address to limit free use of this tool (5 checks per day). Privacy Policy
How to implement it before 5 October, in five steps
- Mark the gapsTake the document you use today and run the 14-point checklist over it: 9 on content (art. 6) and 5 on the file (Resolution). In two minutes you see what is missing.
- Decide: one document or two?The ADR document can act as the DeCA, but then the combined file is a DeCA: native PDF, QR and repository for the ADR too. With no system in place, two documents may be simpler.
- Fix the templateThe 8 data items, with the roles labelled literally as «cargador contractual» and «transportista efectivo», and liability marked by block.
- Ask the system for what the rule requiresHand your IT person or provider the technical sheet and the 13 exact questions. If you have neither, the step-by-step manual route or an issuer.
- Test a full consignmentGenerate, host, and read the QR with a phone off wifi and logged out: the PDF must download by itself. This page runs that test for you. Check my URL now
Three ways to reach 5 October with your paperwork reviewed
DeCA 2026 Kit
Combined ADR + DeCA template in Word and Excel, 14-point checklist, quick guide, technical sheet for IT, flowchart, and the «one document or two?» guide with the manual route. In Spanish. Instant download; free updates for 12 months if the rules change.
See the kitKit + review of your document
The whole kit plus a 30-minute video call to review your real document, field by field, with a Dangerous Goods Safety Adviser. Ten slots a month.
Book the reviewDocument review by a Safety Adviser
For dangerous goods shippers who want certainty: a 90-minute diagnosis, corrected template, technical sheet for your ERP, an end-to-end test consignment and a signed review report. The €149 review is credited if you come from it.
Write to usWhat the DeCA does not replace
The ADR instructions in writing (5.4.3) in the cab, in a language the crew understands; the driver's ADR training certificate; the vehicle approval certificate where required; and the ADR transport document (5.4.1) as an obligation in its own right. The DeCA removes paper as the control document, not paper from the cab.
Prepared by MYDG.SHOP, a dangerous goods compliance company with a Dangerous Goods Safety Adviser (DGSA). Informative content: it assists the responsible person, it does not decide for them. State of the rules as of 13/09/2026.
Frequently asked questions about the DeCA
Does the DeCA replace the ADR transport document?
No. They are two separate obligations: the ADR transport document (5.4.1) and the control document under Orden FOM/2861/2012. A single file can satisfy both if it carries all the data, but neither cancels the other. The instructions in writing (5.4.3), the driver's certificate and the rest of the ADR paperwork stay on board as before.
Does my delivery note or ADR document already count as a DeCA?
Almost never as it stands. Art. 2.2 of the Orden and section Octavo of the Resolution accept any transport document — the ADR one included — if it carries the 8 data items of art. 6 and identifies the cargador contractual and the transportista efectivo «expressly and distinctly». A typical ADR document lacks the NIF and the label of the cargador contractual, the transportista efectivo, the special permit, the date and the plates. And the file must also be a natively digital PDF with a QR and a direct-download URL.
Who is liable for each item in the DeCA?
Art. 7 of the Orden, as amended by Orden TRM/282/2026 (March 2026): the cargador contractual is liable for items a) to d) — including identifying the transportista efectivo — and the transportista efectivo for items e) to g): special permit, date and plates. Both are liable for failing to issue the document or carry it on board; the cargador is exempt from the latter if it proves the document was issued. Delegating the issuing does not transfer liability.
Is the ADR consignor the cargador contractual? What if my carrier subcontracts?
Not necessarily. The cargador contractual is whoever contracts directly with the transportista efectivo (art. 4): the factory if it contracts itself, but also a logistics operator, a forwarder or another carrier. If the factory hires Pérez and Pérez subcontracts the haul to Gómez, the transportista efectivo is Gómez and the cargador contractual is Pérez; the factory remains the ADR consignor and the place of origin but does not appear as cargador contractual in the DeCA.
I deliver into Spain from another country. Does it apply to me?
Not to that journey: it is international transport, documented with the CMR consignment note, Spanish leg included. But if, after unloading, you take a load with origin and destination in Spain — Madrid to Seville, say — before heading home, that is cabotage and it needs a DeCA from 5 October, whatever country your company is established in. Every cabotage leg needs its own; Regulation (EC) 1072/2009 allows up to three within seven days of the international delivery.
Does the DeCA have to be signed?
Not to be valid as a control document: neither Orden FOM/2861/2012 nor FOM/1230/2013 requires a signature. But if you also use the DeCA for contractual purposes — proof of delivery, for instance — and sign it, the Resolution (section Cuarto) requires at least an advanced electronic signature (AdES) under the eIDAS Regulation; a qualified one is also valid. A finger stroke on a tablet without those guarantees does not meet that minimum.
Is a Google Drive, Dropbox or OneDrive link valid?
The usual «share» link, no. It opens a page with a preview and a download button, and section Tercero of the Resolution rules out any URL that leads to a page with credentials, buttons or manual interaction: calling the URL must produce the direct download of the PDF. You can test it with the checker on this page: paste the URL and it tells you what the server returns.
Can I group several consignments in one DeCA?
Yes, when the cargador contractual and the transportista efectivo are the same for all consignments (section Sexto). Each consignment must show its origin, destination, nature and weight, and any other data that differs. The order of consignments in the document does not imply an order of execution.
What if I change tractor unit or destination mid-route?
Two options (section Quinto): edit the same PDF, adding the new data and the reason and keeping the old data marked as no longer valid — same URL, same QR — or issue a new PDF with a new URL and QR, keeping the original. In both cases the PDF must reach the driver. Writing it by hand on the printed copy does not count: handwritten notes are disregarded at inspection.
How long must it be kept, and by whom?
At least one year, by both the cargador contractual and the transportista efectivo (art. 9 of the Orden and section Segundo of the Resolution). They may keep separate repositories; if one of them generated the file, it is enough that the other can download it during that year. Disabling the URL download seven days after the service ends is an option, not an obligation, and it is not the same as deleting.
Is there an extension, an approval scheme for providers or a ministry tool?
No to all three. The date is 5 October 2026 and the rules provide no grace period. There is no approval, certification or register of applications (that is confused with eFTI platforms, which are certified). And the DeCA is not a ministry tool: each company manages the data with its own system or a provider and turns it into the PDF.
What happens if I do not comply?
Missing the control document or its essential data is an infringement of Spain's land transport rules (LOTT), with an administrative fine and, in some cases, immobilisation of the vehicle. The amount depends on how the infringement is classified; the Resolution does not set it. What it does set is what counts as valid: the file the QR points to, not the paper.
Full analysis on the blog: The ADR document as a DeCA — the item-by-item comparison, the 5.4.1.1.1 rule on where to add fields, and the eFTI door.