Spain just handed out its first national permit for Level 4 autonomous passenger vehicles, and the recipients are WeRide Inc. (WRD) and Uber Technologies Inc. (UBER).

The two companies announced the approval Thursday alongside AVOMO, the autonomous vehicle unit of Moove Cars Group.

The permit came from Spain's Directorate General of Traffic under its ES-AV framework, and it clears the way for the companies to test WeRide's GXR autonomous vehicles on public roads.

Madrid First, Then the Rest of the World

The plan starts small. The partners will initially deploy 20 vehicles across high-demand areas in Greater Madrid, with an in-car vehicle specialist supervising each vehicle during the initial phase.

The permit lets the companies begin mapping, route validation and operational readiness testing. Commercial operations are expected to start by the end of 2026, subject to regulatory and operational milestones.

There's a bigger prize here too. The approval is WeRide's first national permit for its GXR autonomous vehicle in the European Union, and it could support future certification and commercialization across the region.

WeRide and Uber Keep Expanding Their Global Partnership

Madrid will become the fourth of 15 cities covered by WeRide and Uber's strategic partnership. The companies plan to enter another 11 cities by 2030.

The division of labor is pretty clean. WeRide provides the autonomous driving technology, Uber contributes its ride-hailing platform, and AVOMO handles fleet operations.

Eventually, the companies plan to deploy tens of thousands of autonomous vehicles globally.

"Receiving this permit is a significant achievement for WeRide as it marks our ninth autonomous driving permit worldwide," said Jennifer Li, WeRide's CFO and head of international.

The Madrid service will mark Uber and WeRide's first planned autonomous vehicle deployment in Europe.

Price Action: WeRide shares were down 0.69% at $5.78 and Uber Technologies shares were down 0.27% at $70.89 at the time of publication on Thursday, according to market data.