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SPANISH LAW

Spain to offer non-binary gender option on foreigners’ residency cards

Spanish migration authorities are set to allow non-binary foreign residents in Spain the option of choosing an 'undefined' X category on their ID cards, something not currently available to Spaniards.

Published: 18 January 2024 15:48 CET
Updated: 18 January 2024 16:49 CET
Spain to offer non-binary gender option on foreigners' residency cards
Spain will soon become one of only a few countries in the world that officially recognise non-binary people on identity cards. Photo by Josep LAGO/AFP.

Spain’s Ministry of Social Inclusion and the Ministry of the Interior confirmed to El Diario that the Directorate General of Migration will incorporate the change and include a third gender option, something which will then be available on foreigners’ residency documents such as TIE cards.

This option is not currently available on Spanish DNI cards, the ID cards used by Spaniards, because Spain’s civil code does not allow it.

In practical terms, TIE cards (residency cards for non-EU nationals) already have a section on the front stating the “sexo/sex”, but these will now include a third ‘X’ option for non-binary people rather than just ‘M’ or ‘F’.

According to ministerial sources, the option will be available for foreigners whose non-binary identity is recognised in their countries of origin.

The change follows the case of Andrea Speck, a German born non-binary person who successfully won a legal case allowing them to be identified as gender ‘X undefined’ in Spain’s central register of foreigners, as ruled by the judgement of the High Court of Justice in Andalusia (TSJA) in May 2023.

READ ALSO: German becomes first person in Spain with non-binary status on ID

Speck, 58 and a Seville resident, had been fighting in the courts since 2019 because the EX18 form, which is used for records in the Central Register of Foreigners of EU Citizens, only contained male and female options, neither of which they identify with.

Foreigners’ residency card showing the “sexo/sex” category, which until now could only be “M” or “F”.

At a meeting held in mid-January 2024, Spain’s Directorate General of Migration also decided to modify 24 official forms used to apply for identification in Spain to include the third non-binary ‘undefined’ gender option. However, the exact details are still unclear, and will be further analysed “in the draft reform of the regulation,” according to sources from Spain’s Social Inclusion Ministry.

What is clear is that ‘gender X’ or ‘undefined’ will appear on the identification cards for non-binary foreigners issued in Spain for people who want it. “What it says on the documentation of their countries of origin will be inscribed,” Ministry sources told El Diario.

According to the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA), there are 14 countries in the world that officially recognise non-binary people on identity cards.

In February 2023, Spain’s world-leading trans law was approved by the government, allowing anyone 16 and over to change their gender on their ID card with a simple declaration.

READ ALSO: What is Spain’s ‘Trans Law’ and why is it controversial?

But despite aiming to help trans people, the law did not legally recognise non-binary people or give them the opportunity to select no gender.

However, activists like Speck see this latest development as progress: “With this step, for the first time a Ministry recognises that we, non-binary people, exist, and we have the right to be legally recognised,” Speck explained, adding there she hopes her case has served to “break the gender binary system” in Spain.

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For members

SPANISH LAW

Why Spain’s law to ban spam calls has failed

A year after legislation was passed to prevent companies making unwanted spam calls to people (including steep fines for offenders) many in Spain are still receiving them.

Published: 2 July 2024 09:24 CEST
Why Spain's law to ban spam calls has failed

A year has passed since the Spanish government brought in legislation to try and stop spam calls, but for many in Spain these infuriating marketing and advertising cold calls continue.

“The reality is that calls are just as if not more intense than before this regulation,” Samuel Parra, a technology law specialist, said recently in the Spanish press.

Data from Spain’s main consumer watchdog, Organización de Consumidores y Usuarios (OCU), backs this up. It reports that nine out of ten consumers in Spain continue to receive these spam calls despite the change in the law.

READ ALSO: Spain’s ban on spam calls to come into force on June 29th

Facua, another consumer group, reports that 4.1 percent of people still receive more than five calls a month, 8.2 percent receive four, 12.5 percent receive three, and 9.7 percent receive at least two.

The main objective of the Telecommunications Law, passed in June 2023, was to stop the abundance of spam calls, which in Spain are particularly bad and are usually commercial sales calls trying to sell you something. However, the reality is that, after being in force for a year, many Spaniards are still receiving these sorts of spam calls.

Almudena Velázquez, a consumer affairs lawyer, told Spanish state broadcaster TVE that companies bypass (and at times break) the law by using a so-called ‘legitimate interest’ that allows companies to offer similar products to those the consumer already has.

For example, if you’ve recently taken out a loan, they could reasonably try and sell you a credit card via a cold call.

Experts say this due to companies exploiting data protection rules. Specifically, Article 6 of Spain’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) allows for the use of personal data, such as telephone numbers, when there is a justifiable ‘legitimate interest’ of the company.

Ileana Izvernicveanu, spokesperson for the OCU, described this concept as a “no man’s land”. In other words, spam phone call companies are exploiting a legal grey area in order to continue with their sales calls.

Another possible explanation, the OCU warns, is that consumers themselves have unwillingly or unknowingly consented to receive these spam calls by giving away their personal data through other means, whether online or when purchasing products.

You can remove your consent by registering on the Robinson List, a free advertising exclusion system in Spain.

Spain’s Telecommunications Law also pledged to open legal proceedings against any company which makes spam calls, regardless of whether the call centre is based in Spain or overseas. It’s unclear if this has happened yet.

Other legislation introduced in 2022 also prohibited cold calling before 9am and after 9m, as well as at weekends or on public holidays. Spain’s main phone and internet providers also committed to not calling phone users between 3pm and 4pm, ‘siesta time’ in Spain.

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