The DeCA is in force: what changes from 5 October

Since 5 October 2026, the administrative control document for road freight in Spain is only valid in electronic format. It's called the DeCA and there is no grace period: the Ministry of Transport has put that in writing in its official FAQ. A shipment that leaves with the paper document is out of compliance.

This isn't the full guide. You already have that in DeCA: practical guide and checklist and, with every source, on our DeCA page. This is what has changed since 5 October 2026, in the order you'll run into it.

What inspectors can ask you for since 5 October

One DeCA per shipment, generated before the service starts. It's a PDF with a QR code. The officer scans it and downloads the document from a direct web address, with no username or password. The driver carries a copy with the QR, on a phone or printed.

What no longer counts: the paper document, a photo of the paper or a scan. The DeCA is born digital. Handwritten notes on a printed copy don't count either.

The data is the same as always, article 6 of Order FOM/2861/2012: contracting shipper (name, tax ID and address), performing carrier (name and tax ID), origin and destination, nature and weight of the goods, date and number plate, tractor and trailer if it's a combination.

Signing it isn't mandatory. If you sign, it must be an advanced or qualified electronic signature. And every document is kept for at least a year.

The fine, in numbers

• Not carrying the DeCA, or carrying it unfilled or without essential data: serious infraction, €401 to €600 (article 141.17 of the LOTT, sanctioned under 143.1.d).
• Falsifying the data: very serious infraction, €4,001 to €6,000 (article 140.9).
• Both are liable: the contracting shipper and the performing carrier. The shipper is only released if it proves the document was issued.

Does it apply to you? The two-minute test

1. Do you carry other people's goods and charge for the transport? If not, because you deliver what you sell with your own vehicles and staff, that's own-account transport and you don't need a DeCA. But carry on board whatever proves the goods are yours, the vehicle belongs to your company and the driver is on your payroll (article 102.3 of the LOTT). That's what inspectors will check.
2. You carry for hire, but is it parcel delivery, removals or a vehicle up to 2 tonnes maximum authorised mass? Exempt. Parcel delivery means collecting or delivering a few packages one person can handle with only the vehicle's own equipment. The limit rises to 2.5 tonnes for alternative-fuel vans that don't gain payload.
3. International transport? That runs on the documents of the conventions Spain has signed. The eCMR remains voluntary; we explain it on the eCMR page.
4. Everyone else: DeCA since 5 October 2026. That includes you if you're the one contracting the transport, because then you're the contracting shipper.

Four claims doing the rounds that aren't true

"You have to upload the DeCAs to a Ministry platform." There is no such platform. Each company generates its PDFs with its own software or a provider's and stores them in its own repository. It can sit on any domain and needs no prior notification.

"The software has to be certified." No. Certification applies to eFTI platforms, the European framework arriving in 2027. Different thing.

"My eCMR counts as a DeCA." Only if it carries every article 6 data point and meets the electronic format: QR code and direct download. Otherwise, no.

"They'll go easy the first few weeks." The Ministry says the opposite: the adaptation period was the ten months since Law 9/2025, and no penalty-free phase is planned after 5 October.

If you contract carriers, this is on you too

You're the contracting shipper. Ask for the PDF with the QR before the load leaves and keep it for a year. If your carrier subcontracts, the DeCA is formalised by the last carrier in the chain, the performing carrier, and whoever hires them, who becomes the contracting shipper. Liability travels down the chain, but yours doesn't disappear until you can prove the document was issued.

If you're not set up yet: a five-step plan

1. First: stop issuing paper. Any shipment that leaves needs its PDF with a QR code.
2. Decide who generates it. Your routing software if it does, or a DeCA provider. Nothing to certify, nothing to register.
3. Test it from outside. With a driver's phone and off your network, scan the QR and check that the PDF downloads without asking for a login.
4. A repository with one year of retention. The PDF must stay downloadable for at least a year.
5. Tell the shippers and carriers you work with who issues and who stores. Nobody should assume the other side is doing it.

How Routal does it

Routal generates the DeCA for every shipment your own fleet delivers, straight from the route. The data is already there: shipper, carrier, origin, destination, goods, date and number plate. When the route is sent to the driver, every shipment leaves with its PDF and QR code; inspectors download it directly and the document is kept for a year. The signed delivery note and the proof of delivery with photo, signature and location stay on the same stop.

Two limits, so nobody gets a surprise: Routal covers deliveries with your own fleet, so shipments you subcontract to another carrier are documented by that carrier; and we don't issue the eCMR for international transport.

If you want to see it with your routes, request a demo.