This is a US$230,000 reminder to check drone laws before you travel

Travels and vacations are the perfect place to take your camera drone for a spin. Think of the awesome footage you'll get! Sadly, a British traveller also got slapped with a huge €200,000 fine – that's around $233,000 / £174,000 / AU$359,000 – for flying his drone in the Spanish Canary Islands without checking the law first.

In fairness, he was asking for trouble. He wasn't just taking sweeping scenery shots of the coast or an innocent bit of footage of him ambling across the landscape; he flew his drone over a popular festival, whereupon it was spotted by police and traced back to the hotel from which he was flying it.

According to The Independent, only three drones were permitted at the Virgen del Carmen festival in Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife: the festival's own drone, providing official coverage of the event, and a pair of National Police drones being used for security operations.

The hapless drone pilot didn't pick up on the clues, and unsurprisingly his drone stuck out like a sore thumb in the skies above the festival.

Police traced him back to a four-star hotel, Hotel Las Águilas, where it was revealed that not only did the pilot not have any knowledge of Spanish drone regulations – he didn't have a license or insurance for the drone, either.

His drone was seized and the fine he received was huge, due both to the fact that the flight was illegal and that it was deemed dangerous thanks to the number of people attending the festival.

While this is obviously a stern reminder to anyone planning to fly a drone in Spanish airspace, it's a broader wake-up call to everybody who intends to travel with a drone when they visit other countries.

Like all laws, drone laws can be drastically different between nations. Under European EU rules, for example, anyone planning to fly a drone must file to become a registered operator, receive appropriate training and take out an insurance policy.

Before you travel anywhere, make sure to check the dorne legislation in the country you're planning to visit – even if you're only going to fly your drone recreationally. Otherwise, you could be coming home with a very big bill as your main souvenir of the trip!

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