The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation wishes to reiterate today, on the National Day commemorating the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, its direct involvement and firm commitment to the implementation of this Convention, and more specifically Article 32, which focuses on cooperation and participation abroad. Over the last eight years, Spain has been one of the countries in the world that has made the greatest efforts to implement the Convention.
This “collective achievement” in the field of disability rights in Spain, as Minister José Manuel Albares has described it on several occasions, has been further consolidated by the inclusion of disability issues within the sphere of diplomacy, international agreements and multilateralism, initiated in 2022 with the creation of the Embassy on Special Mission for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, making Spain the second country in the world to have such an embassy.
Furthermore, disability is a cross-cutting and priority issue included in Law 1/2023 of 20 February on Cooperation for Sustainable Development and Global Solidarity and in Spain’s Foreign Action Strategy 2025–2028.
20th anniversary
It has been 20 years since the United Nations adopted this important document for the recognition and protection of the rights of persons with disabilities worldwide. The model of care for persons with disabilities, based on a medical-rehabilitative approach, was replaced by a social, cross-cutting vision that promotes independent living with equal opportunities for all.
Our country ratified the Convention in 2007 and adopted it on 3 May 2008, a date declared in 2019 as Spain’s National Day commemorating the Convention. Since its adoption, there have been numerous regulatory reforms, the design of strategies and the launch of plans for the implementation of the Convention in Spain.
Spain: a driving force for disability rights
Over the past eight years, Spain has been one of the countries in the world that has made the greatest efforts to implement the Convention. The Government has approved the reform of the Organic Law on the Electoral System to recognise the right to vote for more than 100,000 people with intellectual disabilities (Article 29 of the Convention).
In 2020, the Criminal Code was amended to abolish the non-consensual sterilisation of people with intellectual disabilities, the majority of whom are women (Art. 25 of the Convention). That same year, the LOMLOE (Organic Law Amending the Organic Law on Education) was passed, committing to inclusive education as a public priority (Art. 24 of the Convention).
The 2021 reform of the Civil Code and procedural laws abolished the institution of guardianship and established support measures to enable people with intellectual disabilities to make their own decisions in the justice system (Article 12 of the Convention).
And, most importantly, the amendment to Article 49 of the Constitution adopted in 2024 to bring it into line with the terminology used in the Convention replaces the term ‘disabled’ with ‘people with disabilities’; the recognition of a model based on human and social rights; the guarantee of universal accessibility as a right; the promotion of the participation of organisations of persons with disabilities in decision-making; and the recognition of the specific circumstances of women and children with disabilities (Articles 6 and 7 of the Convention).
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