Which buses need a route sheet in Spain and which are exempt

In Spain, every bus providing public passenger transport services carries a route sheet (hoja de ruta), with two exceptions: the vehicle assigned to a regular general-use line while it runs a trip on that line, and the holder's own vehicle under a regular special-use transport authorisation while it runs one of the trips covered by that authorisation. Discretionary, tourist, reinforcement and collaboration services always carry one.

The key is that both exceptions require two conditions at once. That is why it is decided service by service, and not by company or by customer: the same coach can be exempt on Friday on its line and need a route sheet on Saturday at a wedding.

The rule: all public transport buses

The general rule is set by Orden FOM/1230/2013 (the Spanish ministerial order on the route sheet): all buses intended for providing public passenger transport services must travel provided with the corresponding route sheet (our translation). The order itself adds that only two cases are exempt.

Behind it is Spain's transport law, which requires the administrative control documents determined by regulation to be carried on board, duly completed (our translation). The route sheet is that document in passenger transport, and from 5 October 2026 it has to be electronic; what that means is explained in the electronic route sheet.

It applies to domestic transport, including cabotage. International transport that passes partly through Spain uses the control documents of the agreements Spain has signed.

The two exemptions and their two conditions

There are two exemptions, and each requires the vehicle to have a specific relationship with a regular service and, in addition, to be running a trip of that service. Here they are, in the words of the order (our translation):

Exemption	Condition of the vehicle	While…
Regular general-use (a line)	Expressly assigned to providing the regular general-use service.	It runs one of the trips of that service.
Regular special-use (schoolchildren, workers…)	Held in its own name by the company that holds the authorisation.	It runs one of the trips covered by that authorisation.

To place each case, Spain's transport law calls regular general-use services those aimed at meeting a general demand, which any interested person can use, and regular special-use services those intended to serve exclusively a specific group of users, such as schoolchildren or workers (our translation).

The two conditions go together. A coach assigned to a line, but that day not running a trip of the line, does not meet the second. And a coach that runs a trip of the line, but is not assigned to it, does not meet the first.

The services that always carry one

Outside those two exemptions, the route sheet is needed. The order makes this clear in the sheet itself, which has to declare the nature of the service with one of these four classes:

• Discretionary service, which the law defines as one carried out without being bound to a pre-established itinerary, calendar or timetable (our translation).
• Discretionary service provided as reinforcement of a regular general-use public transport service.
• Discretionary service provided as collaboration in providing a regular special-use transport.
• Tourist service.

Note the reinforcement and the collaboration: even though they relate to a regular service, the order treats them as discretionary services and also asks you to identify the service being reinforced or the transport being collaborated in. The data each one carries is covered in the mandatory data on the route sheet.

Why it is decided by service and not by customer

It is decided by service because the exemptions depend on what the vehicle is doing at that moment, not on who the company is or who is hiring. The order says so with one word: “while” (“mientras”). The vehicle is exempt while it is running one of the trips of the regular service.

An everyday example: a company with a regular line has a coach assigned to it. From Monday to Friday it runs the line's trips and is exempt. On Saturday, that same coach takes a wedding's guests: that is a discretionary service, not a trip of the line, and it needs its route sheet.

School transport works the same way. The school run made by the company holding the special-use authorisation, with its own vehicle, can be exempt while it runs the trips covered by that authorisation. If that vehicle does another service, such as an excursion booked separately, it is no longer one of those trips. The requirements specific to school transport are covered in school transport requirements.

How Bus Center decides

In Bus Center the decision is by service, never by customer. The office declares the nature of each service: one of the order's four classes, or that it is a trip of its own regular general-use service or of its regular special-use transport.

An exemption is applied only if the service's data proves it: vehicle assigned and within a trip. If one of the two is missing, the program explains it; for example: “Es una expedición de tu servicio regular, pero para quedar exenta el vehículo debe estar ADSCRITO al servicio y el viaje debe ser una expedición del mismo” (in English: “It is a trip of your regular service, but to be exempt the vehicle must be ASSIGNED to the service and the journey must be a trip of that service”). When it is applied, its basis is kept, along with who marked it and when.

Until the nature of the service is recorded, Bus Center requires a route sheet. That is the program's own policy, not legal text. A service that needs a route sheet does not move to “ready to leave” (“listo para salir”) until it has been issued; an exempt one moves on with its reason saved, and the driver sees the exemption and its why in their portal. You will find a summary in the route sheet section (in Spanish).

Cases worth checking

The rule is short, but not every case is obvious. Check with your adviser or with your region's transport authority when you are not sure whether a vehicle is expressly assigned to a line, whether a service is a trip under the authorisation or a separate service, or when the journey leaves Spain. Bus Center applies the rule with the data you give it, but it does not certify anyone's regulatory compliance or replace your adviser.

Sources consulted

Checked on 11 October 2026. We link to the original source so that you can consult the current text.

• Orden FOM/1230/2013, de 31 de mayo, por la que se establecen normas de control en relación con los transportes públicos de viajeros por carretera (texto consolidado). BOE.
• Ley 16/1987, de 30 de julio, de Ordenación de los Transportes Terrestres (texto consolidado). BOE.
• Preguntas frecuentes (FAQ) DeCA. Ministerio de Transportes y Movilidad Sostenible.
• Resolución de 5 de junio de 2026, de la Dirección General de Transporte por Carretera y Ferrocarril, por la que se establecen las características que deben reunir los sistemas y los documentos electrónicos de control administrativo exigidos en los transportes por carretera (texto consolidado). BOE.