Forklift licence Spain: there is no official one, what counts and free courses

In short: if you are looking for a "forklift licence Spain" course, know that no official licence exists: the "carnet de carretillero" is neither official nor mandatory, the law makes the employer train you, and the employer decides whether the course you bring is enough. Free courses for unemployed people are run by each region's employment service, and to join you must be registered as a job seeker (demandante de empleo).

What the law says: training yes, official licence no

• The employer must train you. The Law 31/1995 on Occupational Risk Prevention requires the employer (art. 19) to guarantee theoretical and practical training in risk prevention, sufficient and adequate, when you are hired and when your duties or work equipment change. It must focus on your job, and its cost cannot fall on you.
• Driving requires specific training. Royal Decree 1215/1997 (annex II, section 2) reserves the driving of self-propelled work equipment for workers who have received specific training to drive it safely. Self-propelled forklifts are among that equipment, according to the INSST.
• There is no official card. The INSST, the State's technical body for occupational risk prevention, explains that certificates and cards from trade associations, manufacturers and training bodies show knowledge but are neither official nor mandatory. The employer decides whether the training you bring is enough or needs extending. Only tower cranes and self-propelled mobile cranes have an official, mandatory card.

What gives an employer confidence

From most to least official weight:

1. Warehouse certificado de profesionalidad (COML0110). It is official, though not mandatory (INSST). Royal Decree 1522/2011 regulates it as "Actividades auxiliares de almacén", level 1, with 210 hours in total. They are 80 hours on auxiliary warehouse operations, 40 on order picking, 50 on handling loads with forklifts and 40 of professional work placement outside a job. Since 2025 that placement module is replaced by training in a company within the same total hours (first transitional provision, paragraph 3, of Royal Decree 659/2023): check how many hours your call sets. According to the BOE, that 50-hour module gives the level of knowledge needed to drive forklifts under Royal Decree 1215/1997. Level 1 asks for no studies or experience, only enough communication skills to learn (art. 75 of Royal Decree 659/2023). What this kind of certificate is called today: professional certificate, what it is.
2. Training under the UNE 58451 standard. It is a technical standard of UNE, the Spanish Association for Standardisation, titled "Formación de los operadores de carretillas de manutención hasta 10 000 kg". It is voluntary: the Industry Law 21/1992 (art. 8.3) defines standards as technical specifications "cuya observancia no es obligatoria", that is, whose observance is not mandatory. Even so, the SEPE catalogue has at least one forklift programme that cites it: the one on reach trucks and trucks with overhanging load.
3. An academy, manufacturer or trade card. It shows you took a course, but it is not official. The employer decides whether it is enough or asks you to extend your training. The same goes for a card or training from another country: we have not found an official procedure to recognise it, so the employer decides.
4. The employer's own training. Even if you already bring a course, the employer must give you training focused on your job (art. 19.1 of Law 31/1995). If you already work in a warehouse, this is the normal route.

Free courses: what exists

• Courses for unemployed people (SEPE and regional governments). These are the ones people search as "curso carretillero gratis sepe". According to the Valencian employment service, this training is free of charge for students (Labora); check that your call confirms it. Look for the COML0110 certificate or a forklift programme in the Catalogue of Training Specialities. Offer, places and deadlines change by region and by call, and there may be no course in your province right now.
• NGO programmes. In its YMPULSA programme for migrants, YMCA lists obtaining the forklift card among the achievements of one participant (page from December 2023, centres in Barcelona, Málaga, Murcia, Salamanca and Valencia). The page states no status requirements and may be out of date: ask at the centre.
• Paid private courses. Each academy sets its price, and this page gives no figures. Before paying, check whether there is practice with a real forklift and whether the programme cites UNE 58451. If it is a certificado de profesionalidad, check that the centre is registered or accredited for that speciality (the SEPE explains the State Register of Training Entities). Be wary of anyone advertising a "mandatory official licence": according to the INSST it does not exist.

Who can join the public courses

• With residence and work authorisation: you present that same document when registering as a job seeker. A non-EU foreigner must prove the right to work (arts. 7.1.d and 9.1.b of Royal Decree 438/2024).
• With temporary protection (Ukrainians): the decision granting it includes the residence and work authorisation (art. 5.1 of Order PCM/169/2022), so it works for registering.
• Asylum seekers: they may work 6 months after applying if the claim was admitted for processing and is still unresolved for reasons not their fault (additional provision 14 of Royal Decree 1155/2024). Until then these public courses are closed, because the right to work is missing.
• Without work authorisation: the public courses for unemployed people are closed. That leaves NGO programmes, whose requirements depend on each programme, and paid private academies. A course alone does not give you permission to work.
• Arraigo socioformativo: a single forklift course does not count. A full professional certificate fits (COML0110 is level 1) at an authorised centre and with at least 50 % in person (arts. 52.1.e 5.º and 127.d of Royal Decree 1155/2024). Courses promoted by the employment service are taken after you hold the arraigo, the NIE and the job-seeker registration (SEM 1/2025). Confirm with the Immigration Office and see courses for arraigo socioformativo. Online platform courses do not count.

How to find the course in your region

The SEPE gathers each region's search tool on a map of training offers. For example: Labora (Valencian Community), the course search of the Servei d'Ocupació de Catalunya, the Andalusian Employment Service and the Community of Madrid. Each region sets its own deadlines and way to apply. Try "carretillas", "almacén" or the code COML0110, if the search tool accepts it. The SEPE catalogue also has the specialty Conducción de carretillas elevadoras (forklift driving, code COML0008): 20 hours, in person, level 1, no prior qualification; it only asks for enough language skills to follow the course (programme dated December 2022). Search for that code too.

Documents

• ID document with NIE (or DNI): required to register as a job seeker, the way into the public courses.
• Registration as a job seeker with your region's employment service.
• If you are not from the EU, the document proving your right to work: residence and work, temporary protection decision or "autoriza a trabajar".
• Whatever each call or centre asks for: the list varies, check it.

Steps:

1. Check whether you have the right to work: that decides whether you can enter the public courses.
2. Register as a job seeker with your region's employment service.
3. Open your region's search tool from the SEPE map and look for "carretillas", "almacén" or COML0110.
4. Apply for a place the way the call says and check that they charge no tuition.
5. When you finish, ask for your certificate and keep it to show to the employer.

For the wider picture (which courses are regulated training and which only add to your CV) see courses and training to improve your employability, and for registration requirements, free SEPE courses for unemployed people.

🎓 To add other skills to your CV, Alison offers online courses with its own certificate. They do not teach you to drive a forklift, are not a certificado de profesionalidad and do not count for arraigo (🤝 our partner).

Official source: INSST, frequently asked questions on work equipment, Royal Decree 1215/1997 and Royal Decree 1522/2011.

Informational only; check the official source and a professional for your specific case.