Waymo is heading to Spain. On October 20, the company announced that it plans to launch a fully autonomous ride-hailing service in the Madrid region in 2027, marking its first deployment in the country and extending its international reach to another major European capital.
Waymo’s preparations begin right away. Electric Jaguar I-PACE vehicles will begin appearing on Madrid streets in the coming days, and the company will operate under the testing framework of Spain’s traffic agency, the DGT. Trained specialists will sit behind the wheel while Waymo learns the city’s roads, signals and driving conventions, ahead of the move to fully autonomous operation.
The announcement fits into a growing international plan. Waymo aims to launch in London this year and in Tokyo in 2027, working with Nihon Kotsu and GO as regulatory approval proceeds. The company also plans a Toronto launch in 2028 with Element Fleet Management. With Madrid added, Waymo’s map now stretches across North America, Europe and Asia, giving the company a diverse set of cities in which to demonstrate its technology.
The expansion builds on strong momentum at home. Waymo operates in more than 15 U.S. cities, completes over 500,000 paid rides each week, and has passed 20 million cumulative paid rides. Its growth in the United States gives the company a deep base of experience that it can bring to new markets, from handling busy urban intersections to coordinating fleets at scale.
Safety is central to how Waymo describes its progress. Based on more than 400 million kilometers of autonomous driving, the company says its vehicles have 95 percent fewer crashes involving serious injury or worse than human drivers. That track record gives regulators, city leaders and riders concrete data to consider as the service expands to new places.
Spain is also moving ahead on autonomous vehicles, which creates a welcoming backdrop for Waymo’s arrival. Last month, the DGT issued its first national autonomous vehicle testing permits, to WeRide and Uber, and commercial services in Madrid are expected to begin by the end of this year. A growing field of operators in the city means residents will soon become familiar with the idea of driverless rides.
Madrid is a natural fit for autonomous ride-hailing. It is a large, dense and well-connected capital, with busy streets, a strong public transit network and a population that is accustomed to using a mix of transportation options. Driverless rides can complement the metro, buses and taxis by offering an on-demand option for trips that are harder to make by transit alone, particularly late at night or between neighborhoods.
Waymo’s approach to new cities follows a consistent pattern. The company starts with mapping and testing, works with local authorities on regulatory approvals, and then gradually moves to fully autonomous operation and public service. Starting with specialists in the driver’s seat allows the technology to adapt to local conditions, such as roundabouts, narrow streets and the particular rhythms of Spanish traffic, before riders ever step inside.
The company has been refining this playbook for years. Waymo launched its commercial service in the Phoenix area in 2018, and its experience in cities such as San Francisco and Los Angeles has given the team a deep understanding of how autonomous vehicles operate alongside pedestrians, cyclists, buses and delivery vehicles. That experience is a valuable asset when entering a new country, because many of the everyday challenges of urban driving, from merging traffic to unexpected road work, are shared across cities even as local conventions differ. Waymo also continues to invest in the safety framework and operational systems that support its fleets, so that each new market benefits from lessons learned elsewhere.
The vehicles themselves will be familiar. The Jaguar I-PACE is an all-electric model of the kind that has carried riders in Waymo’s U.S. cities, so Madrid residents will see a quiet, zero-tailpipe-emission vehicle on their streets as testing gets underway.
For riders and residents in Madrid, the arrival of Waymo means a chance to experience one of the world’s most widely used autonomous ride-hailing services. Because the service is designed to be accessed through an app, riders can request a vehicle, follow its arrival and travel to their destination without a driver, with features that reflect Waymo’s experience serving millions of trips.
The 2027 target also gives the city and the company time to prepare. Over the coming months, the vehicles on the road will gather the local experience that supports a safe and smooth launch, and Waymo will continue to engage with officials and residents so that the community is informed as the service takes shape.
For the autonomous systems industry, Waymo’s move into Spain is another sign that driverless technology is becoming a truly global transportation option. With plans spanning London, Madrid, Tokyo and Toronto, as well as a growing network of U.S. cities, Waymo is building a presence in many of the world’s major urban centers, and each new market helps bring autonomous ride-hailing closer to everyday life.
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