After more than a year and a half of negotiations, FEDI-EA has managed to reverse the restrictive criteria that Telecomunicaciones was applying, since 2023, to European novice radio amateurs who visited us, denying them the temporary authorization provided for in art. 15 of the Amateur Radio Regulations, something that it did previously until 2022. The replacement by retirement of the former officials of that State Secretariat, and the arrival of a new batch of personnel, gave rise to a more restrictive interpretation of the aforementioned article 15, which we have now managed to return to the way it was before, more in line with the spirit of the law.
What does the controversial article 15 of the current Amateur Radio Regulations (RR) say? Article 15. Temporary authorizations for foreigners without a CEPT license. SETSI, under the conditions established in these regulations, may authorize the holder of an amateur radio station with a valid license issued by another country that has not adopted CEPT Recommendation T/R 61-01, to operate his station while temporarily in Spanish territory. The application form must state the name and surname, nationality, address and original or certified photocopy of the license from his country of origin. The equipment to be used must comply with Spanish regulations on equipment and apparatus. The period of validity of the temporary authorization issued will not exceed 90 days.
In fact, a practically identical wording already appeared in art. 10 of the previous RR of 2006 as a novelty, since in the old REA of 1986 this possibility was not yet contemplated. The underlying idea of this article is none other than to have a certain control of the transmissions that foreign radio amateurs who visit us, whether for tourism or business, can make from our country during their stay here, in case they result in some type of interference. For our part, as radio amateurs, since portable activities are becoming more and more frequent, it is always better to have a valid authorization to cover them. When the denials began, we realized that the suspicious reading that the new heads of the department (SETELECO) made of article 15 was that, if a country had adopted the CEPT Recommendation T/R 61-01, then they considered that this article was no longer applicable to the "inferior" licenses of that country, for example, novice licenses in accordance with Recommendation ECC (05)06, also from CEPT itself, and that a few European countries have adopted, among which Spain is not found. This meant a comparative grievance towards novice radio amateurs from European countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany or the Netherlands, to mention only the most frequent cases that reach our Legal Service, compared to radio amateurs from other countries who, because they have not adopted any of the CEPT recommendations, are really unaware of the level required to obtain their license. Practical examples include China and some South American countries without a reciprocity agreement. In view of this situation, FEDI-EA made a proposal for a subtle change in the wording of article 15 that would allow the interpretation that had been made until now, that is, without discriminating against the countries closest to us and with clearer rules. Let us remember that, not so long ago, Spain had EA, EB and EC licences, without the latter being internationally harmonised. Finally, SETELECO opted to clarify the interpretation of Article 15, saving itself from having to modify its wording, a process of greater complexity. From the extensive document generated in response to our request, this would be the sentence that summarises and resolves the conflict raised: This case also applies to radio amateurs with a valid license issued by another country that has adopted CEPT Recommendation T/R 61-01, but whose license is not at "HAREC level".
Remember that radio amateurs with a CEPT license (Recommendation T/R 61-01) do not need to do any special paperwork to transmit during their stay in Spain, as this is the objective of this recommendation: to simplify mobility for radio amateurs from countries that have adopted it.
This achievement has also been echoed in other countries:
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