Instituto de Mayores
y Servicios Sociales

The Council of Ministers of October 18, 2022, approved Real Decreto 888/2022, de 18 de octubre, which establishes the procedure for the recognition, declaration, and qualification of the degree of disability published today in the BOE, replacing the scale that had been in force since 1999. It is a biopsychosocial model of the CIF adopted to conceptualize disability by the Convención Internacional sobre los Derechos de las Personas con Discapacidad of the United Nations, approved on December 13, 2006, by the United Nations General Assembly (UN), the preamble of which recognizes that disability is a social fact and an evolving concept that results from the interaction between persons with impairments and attitudinal and environmental barriers that hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others.

In this way, the Government fulfills the commitments adopted at the national and international level and responds to a demand from persons with disabilities, a group made up of 4.38 million people in Spain according to the INE, which had been blocked for 10 years. Representatives of the disability civil society will also participate in the first person as members of the Disability Assessment Commission.

This text, which has been built on the basis of territorial dialogue, establishes objective criteria for the assessment and qualification of the degree of disability throughout the State territory, thereby guaranteeing access on equal terms for all citizens. In addition, it provides a scientific basis for understanding and studying health and the social and economic components that impact the person, ensuring a more precise and complete description of the degree of disability that results in greater efficiency and transparency.

The approved text establishes an emergency procedure when necessary for humanitarian reasons or special social need, such as victims in war zones, or for health and life expectancy reasons, as is the case of people with degenerative diseases, such as ELA, among others. Women victims of gender-based violence are also included in this reduction of deadlines, since, according to the latest Macro-survey on Violence against Women, 17.5% have a disability caused by this violence.

Minors with disabilities will exercise their rights on equal terms, without discrimination on the grounds of age or disability, will receive assistance and support adapted to their circumstances and will have the same right as adults to be informed and heard.

As a novelty, its processing has put the person at the center, making the process more flexible through telematic means and ensuring universal accessibility at all times. Likewise, it allows the person to be accompanied by a trusted person, which will have a favorable impact on the autonomy and security of people with severe disabilities or significant support needs.

It also provides a valuable source of information for the study and observation of the realities derived from disability, real situation and evolution, allowing comparison between countries, disciplines and services at different times over time, and facilitating the exploitation of information in other fields of health.

This standard includes six Annexes -modified by Orden DSA/934/2023, de 19 de julio-, referring to General Rules (Annex I); Basic summary of the components of the First level scale (Annex II); Assessment scale of body functions and structures / Global Impairment of the Person (BDGP) (Annex III); Assessment scale of capacities / Activity Limitations (BLA) (Annex IV); Performance assessment scale / Participation Restrictions (BRP) (Annex V); and Assessment scale of Contextual Factors / Environmental Barriers (BFCA) (Annex VI).

Anexos del nuevo Real Decreto por el que se establece el procedimiento para el reconocimiento, declaración y calificación del grado de discapacidad

Finally, it should be noted that the Imserso scheduled a specialized training aimed at all assessing personnel on the new tools, as a guarantee of equity in their application, which took place between November 2022 and April 2023.

Current framework of disability

The Preamble to the Convención sobre los derechos de las personas con discapacidad, done in New York on December 13, 2006, and approved and ratified by the Spanish State, recognizes that "disability is an evolving concept and that disability results from the interaction between persons with impairments and attitudinal and environmental barriers that hinders their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others".

The text of the Convención understands persons with disabilities as "those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others".

Legal framework of disability in Spain

Real Decreto Legislativo 1/2013, de 29 de noviembre, por el que se aprueba el Texto Refundido de la Ley General de derechos de las personas con discapacidad y de su inclusión social, which considers in its article 4 that "persons with disabilities are those who have physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments, foreseeably permanent, which, when interacting with various barriers, may hinder their full and effective participation in society, on an equal basis with others.

In addition to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, and for all purposes, persons with disabilities will be considered those who have been recognized as having a degree of disability equal to or greater than 33 percent. Social Security pensioners who have a recognized pension for permanent total, absolute or severe disability, and passive class pensioners who have a recognized retirement or withdrawal pension for permanent disability for service or uselessness, will be considered to have a disability equal to or greater than 33 percent". (*)

Finally, it should be noted that the Eighth Additional Provision of Ley 39/2006, de 14 de diciembre, de Promoción de la Autonomía Personal y Atención a las personas en situación de dependencia, determines that references in pre-existing regulatory texts to "handicapped" (minusválidos) and "persons with a handicap" (personas con minusvalía), shall be understood as made to "person with a disability" or "persons with disabilities" respectively, these being the terms that must be used hereafter by Public Administrations to refer to these people.

The International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol approved on December 13, 2006 by the United Nations General Assembly (ONU), are international treaties that include the rights of persons with disabilities as well as the obligations of States Parties to promote, protect and ensure those rights. Spain ratified and published it in the Boletín Oficial del Estado de 21 de abril de 2008, and it entered into force on May 3 of this same year; from this moment, and in accordance with the provisions of the first section of article 96 of the Spanish Constitution of 1978, it forms part of the domestic legal system. The adaptation and modification of various rules to make effective the rights that the Convención proclaims and guarantees, is carried out through the promulgation of Ley 26/2001, de 1 de agosto de Adaptación normativa a la Convención Internacional sobre los Derechos de las Personas con Discapacidad and Real Decreto 1276/2011, de 16 de septiembre, de adaptación normativa a la Convención Internacional sobre los derechos de las personas con discapacidad.

The assessment of the degree of disability, expressed as a percentage, will be carried out through the application of the unified technical criteria set out in the scale established by Real Decreto 888/2022, de 18 de octubre, which establishes the procedure for the recognition, declaration and qualification of the degree of disability, which has repealed Real Decreto 1971/1999, de 23 de diciembre, and its subsequent modifications.

The proposed opinion for the recognition of the degree will be issued by the competent multiprofessional teams for the qualification and recognition of the degree of disability attached to the corresponding bodies of the Autonomous Communities to which the functions regarding the qualification of the degree of disability have been transferred, as well as by said multiprofessional teams of the Institute for the Elderly and Social Services within its area of competence.

The procedure is initiated at the request of the interested person by submitting an application to the administrative Body corresponding to their Autonomous Community of residence or Territorial Directorate of the Imserso of Ceuta and Melilla. To facilitate the submission of the required documentation, the different units have established different application forms; to said application the interested person will attach the documentation that, where appropriate, proves their identity and their health situation.

IMPORTANT: the procedure for requesting the recognition of the degree of disability in the cities of Ceuta and Melilla is the responsibility of the Imserso, is regulated by the Orden DCA/348/2026, de 8 de abril, and can be carried out through our electronic headquarters.

The application for recognition of the condition of person with a disability may be made at any time in person or by mail at any of the Territorial Directorates of the Imserso in the case of the Autonomous Cities of Ceuta and Melilla, at the Central Services of the Imserso, as well as at the registry offices established for this purpose by the Managing Bodies of the Autonomous Communities with competence in the management; furthermore, it may be submitted through any of the means established in the Ley 39/2015, de 1 de octubre. For those persons who previously had a certain degree of disability recognized, at the moment their state of health worsens, they may request a review procedure, proving it with documentation.

Once the person has been assessed by the multiprofessional team for the qualification and recognition of the degree of disability, the heads of the competent Bodies in this matter of the Autonomous Communities or the Territorial Directorates of the Imserso must issue an express resolution on the recognition of the degree, as well as on the score obtained in the scales to determine the need for the assistance of another person or mobility difficulties, if applicable. The recognition of the degree of disability shall be understood to have taken place from the date of the application, and the date on which, where appropriate, its review may take place must necessarily appear.

Against the definitive resolutions, interested parties may file a prior claim to the social jurisdictional channel, in accordance with article 71 of the Ley 36/2011, de 10 de octubre, reguladora de la Jurisdicción Social.

Finally, it should be noted that the accreditation of the degree of disability will be valid throughout the territory of the Spanish State.

Among the possible benefits for persons with a recognized degree of disability, the following can be highlighted:

• Access to employment promotion measures for persons with disabilities
• Adaptation of the workplace
• Adaptation of selective tests in access to public employment
• Early retirement
• Access to public housing
• Individual subsidies and/or aid: rehabilitation treatments, support products, accessibility and home adaptations, etc.
• Rehabilitation and support treatments
• Educational resources and support
• Non-contributory pension (PNC) for invalidity
• Economic and social benefits for persons with disabilities: Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Benefit and Mobility Subsidy and Compensation for Transport Costs
• Family benefits: Financial allowance for a dependent child or fostered minor with a disability, or those over 18 years of age with a degree of disability equal to or greater than 65%
• Extension of the maternity rest period in cases of disability of the child or fostered minor.
• Admission to Centers
• Tax benefits: Need for the assistance of third parties to travel to the workplace, reduced mobility, need for adapted housing, etc.
  • Personal Income Tax (IRPF)
  • Corporation Tax (IS)
  • Inheritance and Gift Tax
  • Value Added Tax (IVA)
  • Special tax on certain means of transport (IEDMT)
  • Tax on Mechanical Traction Vehicles (IVTM)
• Parking card for people with reduced mobility
• Bonotaxi
• Reductions in means of transport
• Other aid and services for the group of persons with disabilities that are considered by the competent bodies in the field of Social Services, whether municipal, regional or state, or from private social initiatives.

• Guía de orientaciones para la valoración de la discapacidad en enfermedades raras de la Comunidad de Madrid.
• Guía para la valoración de la discapacidad en enfermedades raras de la Junta de Andalucía.
• Guía para la valoración de la discapacidad en enfermedades raras de la Región de Murcia.
• Portal de Registro de Enfermedades Raras of the Institute for Rare Diseases Research (IIER)
• Protocolo DICE for Primary Care of Rare Diseases (DICE-APER): the objectives of this protocol are:
  • To identify people who have a diagnosis corresponding to any of the rare diseases described.
  • To provide basic and support information to the patient, based on existing resources in patient organizations and the administration.
  • To contribute to the care coordination that each patient demands, establishing the appropriate ties between the primary care physician and the specialist medical service for that disease.
  • To provide information to the health system about the dimensions of the problem, facilitating the patient's registration in the registry of people with rare diseases of the Isciii and contributing to research through the donation of a blood sample for the ISCIII biobank.
• Recursos asistenciales y de investigación en enfermedades raras ubicados en la Comunidad de Madrid: the work aims to facilitate strategic decision-making in health, within the framework of rare diseases, including an analysis of the existing health resources in the hospitals of the Community of Madrid both in their healthcare aspect, as well as in that other coming from research areas, but which sometimes also serve as support for the laboratory diagnosis of some rare pathology. This analysis aims to serve to improve and facilitate the quality of care and promote the solution of certain problems, traditionally demanded from patient forums and organizations, and also from the official documents of the Directorate General for Health and Consumers of the European Community and of course from the Rare Diseases Strategy of the National Health System.
• Por un modelo sanitario para la atención a las personas con Enfermedades Raras en las Comunidades Autónomas. Estudio ENSERio2.
• Estudio sobre situación de Necesidades Sociosanitarias de las personas con Enfermedades Raras en España. Estudio ENSERio. Datos 2016-2017.
• Estudio sobre situación de Necesidades Sociosanitarias de las personas con Enfermedades Raras en España Estudio ENSERio.

Formulario de solicitud para las DD.TT. del Imserso de Ceuta y Melilla (2.9 MB)