Entry & progression
Governing: RD 875/2014 as amended (RD 238/2019, RD 339/2021, RD 1188/2025). Builds on: L1.1.
The ladder at a glance
| Title | Boats (basic, motor) | Distance | Theory exam |
|---|---|---|---|
| Licencia de Navegación | ≤6 m and PWC | ≤2 nm, daylight | None: 2 h theory + 4 h practical at a school or federation |
| Patrón para Navegación Básica (PNB) | ≤8 m, plus PWC | ≤5 nm from port or shelter | 27 questions, 45 min, pass 17 |
| Patrón de Embarcaciones de Recreo (PER) | ≤15 m, plus PWC | ≤12 nm, and between islands of the Baleares or Canarias | 45 questions, 90 min, pass 32 |
| Patrón de Yate (PY) | ≤24 m | ≤150 nm | 40 questions, 2 h, pass 28 |
| Capitán de Yate (CY) | ≤24 m | No limit | 40 questions, 2 h 30, pass 28 |
Sail rights need extra (complementary) practicals at each level. All theory exams are four-option multiple choice, and each has error caps by subject: fail too many buoyage or collision-regulation questions and you fail overall, whatever your total.
Useful detail on each rung
- PNB also allows sail boats up to 8 m after sail practicals, and needs a 4 h radio course unless you already hold an SRC-level certificate.
- PER has complementary attributions: sail up to 15 m; motor or sail up to 24 m within 12 nm; and Península–Baleares passages, which need navigation practicals of 24 h including at least 4 h at night (48 h with ≥8 h night if combined with sail). A PER holder must complete the SRC-level radio course (≥12 h).
- Patrón de Yate requires the PER first. Its practicals are 48 h (72 h with sail), of which at least 36 h are on passage, including a full day watch and a night watch. The exam may be passed module by module.
- Capitán de Yate requires the PY. Its exam has a navigation module (including celestial calculation) and a generic module of meteorology and English. It is the gateway to the PPER.
CAUTION — The 24 m extension on a PER RD 875 art. 9.c lists motor or sail up to 24 m within 12 nm as a PER complementary attribution, but the Regulation does not say plainly which practicals it requires. Schools teach that the Anexo VI navigation practicals are the ones required. Check with the issuing region before relying on it.
Age, medical and cards
- Age: 18. The Licencia and PNB may be taken at 16 with written parental consent.
- Medical: a psicofísico report from a driving-licence medical centre (CRC), valid 2 years for the application, or an ISM seafarer's certificate (with a CRC colour-vision check).
- Validity: the título never expires. The tarjeta is valid 10 years, or 5 years once you turn 70.
The no-title exception
RD 875 art. 10 lets an adult (18+) handle, without any title, a motorboat up to 5 m and 15 CV, a sailing boat up to 6 m, or beach craft, within 2 nm and in daylight. PWC are excluded. From 1 October 2026 the motorboat exception covers only private use, so anyone hiring one needs a title (see L5.1).
How this ladder relates to yachts
For crew on large yachts the recreational ladder matters in three ways: guests or crew driving tenders under Spanish rules; the PER/PY/CY as proof of seamanship for a PPER; and bareboat charter, where the charterer's recreational title is what counts. For UK equivalents, the RYA certificates in RD 875 Anexo IX are covered in Spanish-Flag Charter Compliance. Exam preparation is in PER Theory Exam Prep, Patrón de Yate Theory Exam Prep and Capitán de Yate Theory Exam Prep.
TIP — Where to sit the exam Twelve regions, the Baleares among them, set and mark their own recreational exams. The DGMM examines directly only in Madrid.