Waymo is bringing its robotaxis to Spain. Alphabet's self-driving unit said on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026, that it plans to launch a fully autonomous ride-hailing service in the Madrid region in 2027, its first deployment in the country, Reuters reported. Its electric Jaguar I-PACE vehicles will begin appearing on Madrid streets in the coming days, with trained specialists behind the wheel before autonomous operations begin.

Where and how testing works

Waymo will operate under the Spanish traffic agency DGT's testing framework for Level 4 autonomous vehicles (Instrucción VEH 2025/07), covering urban streets in Madrid city, Alcobendas and Getafe, by day and by night, La Vanguardia and Xataka reported. The plan follows Waymo's usual pattern: first the cars are driven manually to map the streets, then they drive themselves with a specialist at the wheel, and only in 2027 would they run with nobody in the driver's seat and carry paying passengers.

The first fleet will be "small," and Waymo gave Xataka no exact number. The cars use the fifth-generation Waymo Driver, with lidar, radar and 29 cameras, according to La Vanguardia, and will run on red temporary plates during testing. For the 2027 service, Waymo told Xataka it is working with local operating partners but did not name any app or platform. "Madrid is an incredible capital of innovation," co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana said, as quoted in Spanish by Expansión.

A crowded Madrid start line

Waymo is not first in line. DGT issued its first national permits for autonomous-vehicle testing to WeRide and Uber last month, with commercial service expected in Madrid by the end of this year, Reuters said. Waymo also said it aims to launch in London this year, Tokyo in 2027 with Nihon Kotsu and GO (pending regulatory approval), and Toronto in 2028 with Element Fleet Management (our Toronto story).

Fleet set to grow fivefold

In the U.S., Waymo says it operates in more than 15 cities and completes more than 500,000 paid rides a week, with more than 20 million cumulative paid rides. Separately, Semafor reported on Monday that Waymo plans to grow its fleet from 4,000 cars to 8,000 by the end of this year and 20,000 by the end of 2027, using the $5 billion loan it secured this month from lenders including PIMCO, Blackstone and Sixth Street, according to Reuters. Waymo did not immediately comment on that report.

What it means for Tesla

Tesla has no robotaxi service in Europe. Its supervised driver-assist software, now called Tesla Assisted Driving in Europe, is cleared in nine EU countries, and Spain is not one of them; an EU-wide vote is not expected before December (our Slovakia FSD story). In the U.S., Tesla says its Robotaxi service runs in seven cities. Tesla reports third-quarter results on Wednesday, Oct. 21.