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DRIVING

The illnesses and health conditions you can’t have when driving in Spain 

Spain has increased the number of illnesses and health conditions that will prevent people from legally driving or from renewing their licence from next year onwards. From mental disorders to cancer and heart problems, here’s the full list.

Published: 6 September 2024 14:51 CEST
The illnesses and health conditions you can't have when driving in Spain 
You cannot drive or renew your licence if you have health conditions which could affect your driving according to Spain's DGT traffic authority. Photo: Mehmet Ali Turan/Pexels

The recent update of Spain’s Traffic Law means that from 2025 a greater number of people in Spain will not be able to get behind the wheel. 

Toughening conditions for drivers based on health conditions is a measure aimed at curbing traffic accidents and road deaths. 

In the words of Spain’s Traffic Authority the DGT, “in order to get behind the wheel safely, the driver needs perceptive, cognitive and motor skills”.

The DGT has divided the health conditions that are incompatible with driving into nine categories: vascular, cardiac, psychiatric, neurological, endocrine, digestive, respiratory, oncological, chronic and degenerative. 

It’s worth noting that the level of symptoms displayed and medical reports presented can influence the decision. Not all driving bans based on illness are permanent either.

However, if the detrimental medical conditions are confirmed and long-lasting, driving for that person becomes illegal in Spain. 

They will not be able to renew their licence either in some cases, or as we will see below, a certain amount of time after their operation or illness will have to pass first.

The penalties imposed by the DGT for those who flout the rules range from €6,000 to €200.

Below is a list of the health conditions that make driving illegal in Spain, or which will result in your licence being revoked, not renewed, or at the very least keep you off the road for a period of time.

Vascular diseases 

Large vessel aneurysm or dissection: a favourable report from a specialist will be required to renew your licence, valid for between 1 and 10 years. Six months after an operation, renewals are granted for between 1 and 2 years. Drivers considered still at risk of further vascular problems will be deemed unfit. 

Ischemic attack (mini-stroke): Someone who has suffered a mini-stroke will have to wait 6 months before applying to renew their licence.  

Heart disease

Arrhythmias and surgeries involving a pacemaker, heart valve prostheses and cardiac revascularization: People who fit any of these descriptions will not be able to drive until one month after the operation, in some cases three months.

Cardiac syncope in the last six months: These people’s licences cannot be renewed, except if there is a favourable report from the cardiologist.

Acute myocardial infarction (heart attack) : If you suffered a heart attack, you will not be able to drive until three months after it happened and you should also wait three months before renewing your licence. This may only be extended for two or three years.

Mental disorders

Dementia, anxiety disorder, personality disorder, depression, sleep disorders, obsessive compulsive or intellectual development disorders, ADHD and alcohol or drug dependence: People who have been diagnosed with any of these conditions will not be able to drive unless the disease manifests itself in a mild manner and there is a favourable medical report that deems them fit to drive.

Neurological diseases

Loss of consciousness in the last year: Drivers who have suffered this due to neurological reasons will be considered unsuited to drive.

Epilepsy: After the first seizure or only seizure, 6 months must pass and with a favourable report presented for the person to be allowed to drive. In this case, their licence will be valid for between 1 and 10 years depending on their circumstances.

Transient ischemic attack (mild stroke): The person must wait six months before getting a medical report which if favourable allows to renew their licence for a year. 

Endocrine diseases

Treatment for diabetes, hyperthyroidism or adrenal diseases: Depending on the severity of the condition, the person’s driving licence may not be renewed. 

Diabetes: Once again, a positive medical report will be needed to renew your licence for between 1 and 5 years. 

Hypothyroidism and parathyroid disease: A doctor will have to give you the go-ahead for you to be able to renew your licence.

Digestive diseases

Nephropathy (kidney disease): A certificate of good health from your doctor will be needed to renew for between 1 and 10 years.

Kidney transplant: If six months have elapsed since the transplant and there have been no subsequent problems, a favourable report from the nephrologist allows you to drive legally in Spain.

Respiratory diseases

Chronic dyspnoea (shortness of breath): People with this condition cannot renew their driving licences in Spain.

Obstructive sleep apnoea: You can renew your licence for up to three years, but you need the go-ahead from the doctor.

Cancer

Oncological diseases: if the oncologist’s report is favourable, the validity period of a licence for a cancer sufferer in Spain is one year. When there is no evidence of cancer and no active treatment, a driving licence can be renewed for five years.

Onco-haematological disorders: As a general rule, driving licences cannot be renewed until 10 years have passed since symptoms have completely remitted for any onco-haematological cancer. However, one and three-year renewals can be offered when the oncologist gives the go-ahead. 

Other chronic and degenerative diseases

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer’s, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), muscular dystrophy, osteoporosis, Parkinson’s or rheumatoid arthritis: Spain’s DGT doesn’t allow drivers with any of these illnesses to get behind the wheel.

Member comments

  2. Never mind the delay in law, what about the wait to see specialist. The whole medical system will clog up. Nani state syndrome?

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TAXES

EXPLAINED: How Spain’s new Social Security app works

Whether you're self-employed, an artist, a student or a domestic worker, Spain's new social security app aims to simplify and streamline bureaucratic processes you might need to do when it comes to managing your working life and pension.

Published: 17 September 2024 11:04 CEST
EXPLAINED: How Spain's new Social Security app works

Spain’s Social Security Ministry has launched a new free mobile app aimed at simplifying and synchronising tax, pension and working life procedures, allowing you to better access records and update information.

The app is specifically aimed at easing the bureaucratic burden on the self-employed, domestic workers, artists and young people studying or doing work experience.

Spain’s Minister for Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz, presented the app this week, stating that it represents “a great step forward for citizens to have a closer and more fluid relationship with Social Security.

Through this application, personal data can be updated and verified; detailed information on contribution bases can be accessed and your Work Life report can be easily downloaded, among many other services.”

In Spain, your ‘Working Life report’ is known as el informe de vida laboral. According to the Social Security website, it is “a document that contains information on all the periods contributed by the worker to the Spanish Social Security system.” In other words, all the information on your entire employment history in Spain.

READ ALSO: How to check how long you have left to get a pension in Spain

The app essentially moves over the various processes usually done on the Social Security portal or in Spain’s social security offices so users can receive a more personalised service including tailored alerts and the ability to download documents to their mobile phones in offline mode.

It also allows users to easily check the details of their working life including for who and for how long they’ve worked somewhere, the type of contract they have, the working day or the relevant collective bargaining agreement, as well as information on contribution bases and how much they are owed in the event of sick leave and for calculating your pension.

How do I access and use the app?

First you’ll need to download the app from the Google Play or Apple App store. Once you’ve downloaded it to your phone, there are three ways to log-in in and register:

  • Permanent Cl@ve
  • Digital certificate (Android only)
  • SMS

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Once registered and logged in, push notifications can be turned on as well as a biometric access — either fingerprint or facial recognition.

Once this has been done, you can access your personal information, whether it be working or pension matters, and all the normal procedures you’d previously do via the portal can be carried out and all this information can be downloaded in files.

What can you do with the app?

As mentioned earlier, the new app basically aims to streamline the processes you’d normally do via the Social Security Ministry portal or in person.

This includes checking your social security number or requesting one, consulting your tax contribution bases and employment history, updating your personal details, or managing tasks for the self-employed, domestic workers artists or young people doing work experience, such as registering or deregistering as economically active and downloading supporting documents.

READ ALSO: How to de-register as self-employed in Spain

Focus on young people, freelancers, artists and domestic employment

The application offers four different profiles to use the app: self-employed, domestic employment (for both employees and employers), artists and trainees.

The autónomo profile allows you to access all the information and procedures available if you are registered or are about to start self-employment, including registration and de-registration, modifying your contribution base, consulting tax receipts, and estimating your contributions according to your income, among other things.

In the domestic employment section, whether you yourself work domestically or are going to hire someone to work at home, you can consult all the necessary information such as calculating the contributions to be paid, registering and de-registering, updating the salary information and the working hours of the employee, or consulting payslips issued.

READ ALSO: The rules for hiring a domestic worker in Spain

For artists, you can manage your inactivity, request a refund of income from contribution bases or deregister from the working artists’ register.

For students doing internships or work experience (alumnos en prácticas in Spanish) the app is useful for both those about to start their internships and for those who’ve already started them, with access to their personal profile, a guide to resolve doubts, information to find out about the benefits of pensions contributions and they can carry out procedures such as requesting the social security number, downloading the Work Life Report and consulting contribution bases.

READ ALSO: How self-employed workers in Spain can get a better pension

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