A spinning reel includes a rotation transmission mechanism that transmits a rotation of a handle to a rotor. The rotation transmission mechanism includes a drive shaft and a drive gear. The drive shaft is mounted to the reel unit so as to be rotatable about an axis arranged skew to the spool shaft. The drive gear is mounted to the drive shaft so as to be unitarily rotatable therewith. The spinning reel includes a rotation control mechanism mounted between the handle and the drive shaft. The rotation control mechanism transmits the rotation of the handle to the drive shaft only when the handle is rotated in a direction corresponding to the fishing-line winding direction. The rotation control mechanism includes a handle brake that applies a braking force to the rotation of the handle when the handle is rotated in a reverse direction relative to the direction.