On October 20, 2026, Waymo announced it is coming to Spain, starting in the Region of Madrid, where it is laying the groundwork for a fully autonomous ride-hailing service. Its electric Jaguar I-PACE vehicles were to begin appearing on the region’s streets in the coming days, and the company said, “We aim to welcome our first riders in 2027.”
Waymo described a phased approach: manual driving first, followed by technical validation with local trained autonomous specialists behind the wheel to adapt the Waymo Driver to regional traffic patterns and road conditions. It said it is investing in local operations, engaging national, regional and local authorities and emergency services, and aiming to work within Spanish national and regional regulatory frameworks. The announcement quoted co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana and road-safety voices from the Spanish Road Safety Foundation (FESVIAL) and the spinal-injury association AESLEME, and cited more than 20 million trips completed, hundreds of thousands of commercial rides per week, over 400 million fully autonomous kilometres and 95 percent fewer serious-injury-or-worse crashes than human drivers in its operating cities.
It came four days after Waymo’s Toronto announcement and follows its Singapore plan, extending a run of international market announcements.
Why it matters: Madrid is Waymo’s first market in Spain, a city where WeRide and Uber had already announced robotaxi plans, so it sets up direct competition in a European capital. A 2027 rider target puts a US robotaxi leader on a concrete European timeline.
What it does not show: no permit, regulatory approval, fleet size, service area, commercial partner or investment amount was announced. As with Toronto, this is mapping and validation groundwork, and 2027 is a goal.