Delivery robots in Moscow: why they never reached Madrid

Delivery robots in Moscow: the business Madrid won't allow

Yandex has spent four years delivering with autonomous robots in several Russian cities. The pandemic sent their numbers on the streets soaring. The question that opens the topic is uncomfortable: why are these devices nowhere to be seen in Madrid or any European capital? The answer is not the technology. It's the permits, the cost of labour, and a doubt nobody wants to put in writing: how long does a robot last before it's stripped of its goods, depending on the neighbourhood.

What Spanish law says about a robot driving itself

An autonomous delivery device is neither a bicycle nor a scooter. It cannot go on the pavement: that's forbidden. Not on bike lanes either. And on the road it would require a licence plate, insurance and a regulatory framework that today does not exist for driverless vehicles. That's the first wall, and it's administrative, not technical. Some claim that wall can be jumped with a dinner: if the promoter visits parliament and then sits down with the right middleman, the permits come through in weeks. The argument is amusing and has some uncomfortable truth to it, but it doesn't solve the second problem.

Labour costs: a courier on a bike is still cheaper

The economic comparison is what decides. A human courier on a bicycle costs less than maintaining, insuring and supervising a fleet of robots. That's the conclusion that keeps coming up: the gadget is eye-catching, but the guy on the bike wins. In Russia the maths works out differently, with different wages and cost structures. In Spain, the robot would have to compete against an already very tight delivery labour market, with margins that leave no room for many experiments. And on top of that, the state — that silent partner — would pile on taxes, fees and regulation until the business stopped being one.

Theft: the argument nobody seriously disputes

Here things get rough. Part of the analysis is blunt: the robot doesn't survive the street. There's a detailed description of how it gets stripped: three consoles are ordered, someone in the neighbourhood is tipped off, the cameras and GPS get smashed, the cables are cut, the device is loaded into a van and the contents resold. The order gets claimed all the same. Others argue the problem isn't the thief but the state itself: before any gang gets to it, the tax machinery squeezes the operator dry. And some recall that Spain had cigarette vending machines bolted to walls until the seventies or eighties, and in Germany and France unattended dispensers of tobacco, bread or vegetables still exist. The difference, they say, is education and respect for the law, not technology.

Where it works and where it doesn't

The experiments have been done. In Zaragoza a robot has been circulating around the Coso and Plaza San Miguel area, a very busy spot, and so far nobody has touched it: people take photos of it. In Alcobendas a pilot with supermarket and pizza deliveries was tried. Similar devices have been seen in England, Tallinn, Stockholm and Espoo, and in California they started before anyone. The recurring pattern: they work in controlled developments, small cities and predictable environments. In Madrid or Barcelona, with the traffic chaos and pedestrian density, the picture changes. So does the weather: Moscow's snow and ice don't seem to be an obstacle for Yandex, which dismantles the weather excuse.

What's really holding the business back

It's not the snow. It's not the GPS. It's the combination of three things: a legal framework that doesn't contemplate the driverless courier, a labour cost that keeps the human profitable, and a risk of loss no insurer wants to cover at a reasonable price. On the political substance, the diagnosis splits between those who blame regulation, those who blame the tax-hungry state and those who point straight at crime. The full calculation, with the theft, insurance and permit items broken down, is what decides whether the business is viable or just an expensive demo.

What if the problem isn't the robot, but the fact that nobody here wants it to work?