Benidorm mobility scooter ban: Tandem vehicles face tough new restrictions

Benidorm has taken a new step towards banning tandem mobility scooters, with the town council voting unanimously on Monday, October 26, to prohibit powered mobility chairs and scooters built to carry more than one person. The proposal is separate from the police crackdown on misuse of mobility scooters reported by the Euro Weekly News in May 2026, and would introduce an explicit ban on multi-occupant vehicles under a revised municipal ordinance. The Cadena SER report on the council’s decision confirms that the proposal has received unanimous initial approval.

Who will be banned from using the scooters?

The proposed restriction targets people using mobility scooters or powered mobility chairs specifically designed to carry more than one occupant. These specifically include tandem-style vehicles that allow couples or other passengers to travel together on a single scooter.

Holidaymakers who hire these larger vehicles could be affected, as could anyone else using a multi-person model on Benidorm’s streets and pedestrian areas.

However, the proposal is not a blanket ban on ordinary, single-person mobility scooters. Individuals who rely on standard mobility scooters because of reduced mobility are not the target of this particular change. The council has not yet published a specific list of affected models or a separate schedule of penalties for breaching the proposed restriction.

Why does Benidorm want to ban tandem mobility scooters?

Benidorm’s council says the measure is intended to improve pedestrian safety, particularly on pavements and in other pedestrianised areas where mobility scooters share space with people on foot. Mobility councillor Francis Muñoz explained that the revised ordinance is designed to bring local rules into line with national traffic legislation and strengthen protection for vulnerable road users.

The council also wants to prevent powered mobility chairs from being used as leisure or tourist transport where they were not intended to carry multiple occupants. These proposal forms part of a wider overhaul of Benidorm’s municipal Mobility Ordinance, rather than being an isolated change to scooter hire rules. According to Onda Cero’s report on the revised mobility ordinance, the changes also address road safety and the protection of pedestrians.

How will the new mobility scooter ban work?

The revised rules would expressly prohibit the circulation of powered mobility chairs constructed to carry more than one person. This measure has received initial approval from all political groups on the council who agree on the need to control the growth in popularity, and therefore risk to pedestrians. However, this is not the final stage of the process, and the precise enforcement arrangements will depend on the completed new bylaw.

Benidorm has previously stepped up enforcement against inappropriate mobility scooter use. In May 2026, the Euro Weekly News reported on police checks and warnings directed at holidaymakers hiring scooters without a genuine mobility need.

The new proposal goes even further in a different respect: it specifically addresses vehicles built for more than one occupant, rather than relying solely on existing rules governing how scooters are used.

Readers should not confuse this proposal with restrictions on electric scooters. As EWN explained in its guide to Spain’s new traffic rules for 2026, personal mobility vehicles and conventional mobility aids are subject to different rules.

When will the ban come into force?

The proposed change is not yet definitively in force. Following the initial approval on October 26, the revised ordinance must undergo a further period of public consultation lasting 30 working days, according to local reporting. The council can then proceed towards final approval and entry into force.

Until that process is completed, the existing ordinance remains the relevant set of rules. Anyone planning to hire a mobility scooter in Benidorm should check the current requirements with the rental company rather than assume the proposed ban is already being enforced. The council has not announced a confirmed date for the new restriction to take effect, but we can imagine that it will be before the next peak season.