State Reports - CESCR - Spain - E/1994/104/Add.5 (1994)

UNITED

NATIONS

Economic and Social

Council

Distr.

GENERAL

E/1994/104/Add.5

3 March 1995

ENGLISH

Original: SPANISH

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL

Substantive session of 1995

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON

ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS

Third periodic reports submitted by States parties

under articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant

Addendum

SPAIN*

[18 November 1994]

* The second periodic reports submitted by the Government of Spain concerning rights covered by articles 6 to 9 (E/1984/7/Add.2), 10 to 12 (E/1986/4/Add.6) and 13 to 15 (E/1990/7/Add.3) were considered by the Sessional Working Group of Governmental Experts in 1984 (E/1984/WG.1/SR.12 and 14) and 1986 (E/1986/WG.1/SR.10 and 13) and also by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights at its sixth session in 1991 (E/C.12/1991/SR.13, 14, 16 and 22).

GE.95-15539 (E)

CONTENTS

Paragraphs Page

I. GENERAL PROVISIONS OF THE COVENANT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 21 3

A. Article 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 11 3

B. Article 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 - 21 5

II. SPECIFIC RIGHTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 - 396 8

A. Article 6. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 - 74 8

B. Article 10. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 - 95 19

C. Article 11. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 - 101 23

D. Article 13. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 - 345 24

E. Article 15. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346 - 396 78

Annexes

I. Structure of the education system. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

II. Illiterate persons and persons without formal education,

by Autonomous Communities (1991). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

III. Report of the Ministry of Culture to the United Nations

Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

(December 1990). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

I. GENERAL PROVISIONS OF THE COVENANT

A. Article 1

1. The 1978 Spanish Constitution is based on the unitary structure of the State, but at the same time recognizes the right of territorial, regional or national entities to set themselves up as Autonomous Communities with powers of self-government. Sovereignty is vested in a single depositary, the Spanish people, considered as a whole and whose "indissoluble unity" is enshrined in the "Spanish Nation, the common and indivisible home country of all Spaniards" (art. 2). At the same time, the Constitution considers that the State is made up of different regions and nationalities, whose right to self-government is recognized and guaranteed in a spirit of common solidarity (also art. 2).

2. According to article 137 of the Constitution, the State is organized territorially into Municipalities, Provinces and "such Autonomous Communities as may be constituted". Hence access to autonomy is not imposed by the Constitution, which leaves every region or national community free to choose. In other words, the principle of free initiative takes precedence over that of compulsory regionalization.

3. The greatest innovation in the Constitution consists in introducing the term "nationalities" for the first time in Spanish constitutional history. The unity of the State is compatible with the existence of different nationalities. Nevertheless, the Constitution does not state what territories are constituted by those nationalities.

4. The rules applying to the Autonomous Communities are contained in title VIII, chapter 3, of the Constitution.

5. The Statutes of Autonomy constitute the basic institutional rules of every Autonomous Community, and the State recognizes and protects them as an integral part of its legal order (art. 147.1).

6. The Constitution has basically provided different procedures for the drafting and approval of Statutes, depending on the specific circumstances in which the Communities seek autonomy and which are set out in the Constitution. This diversity of formal procedures is not only relevant from the time standpoint, but also implies significant differences in practical terms, both with regard to the degree of participation of the Community itself or its representative bodies in the process of defining the content of its Statute, and as regards the Community's future sphere of competence.

7. The ordinary procedure is set out in article 143-2 of the Constitution and the first transitional provision, and the special procedure in article 151-1 and the second transitional provision.

8. The common procedure is very simple and its approval gives rise to the granting of a Statute by the State Parliament to the Autonomous Community concerned. Under the terms of article 146, the draft Statute has to be drawn up by an ad hoc assembly and submitted to the Cortes for approval as an Act. The special procedure introduces a number of specific provisions whereby the Statutes are prepared jointly by the Central Parliament and the Community concerned.

9. The following Communities hold a Statute of Autonomy at present:

(a) Basque Region: Approved by Organization Act No. 3/1979 of 18 December 1979;

(b) Catalonia: Approved by Organization Act No. 4/1979 of 18 December 1979;

(d) Andalusia: Approved by Organization Act No. 6/1981 of 30 December 1981;

(e) Asturias: Approved by Organization Act No. 7/1981 of 30 December 1981;

(f) Cantabria: Approved by Organization Act No. 8/1981 of 30 December 1981;

(g) La Rioja: Approved by Organization Act No. 3/1982 of 9 June 1982;

(h) Murcia: Approved by Organization Act No. 4/1982 of 9 June 1982;

(i) Valencia: Approved by Organization Act No. 5/1982 of 1 July 1982 and Organization Act No. 12/1982 of 10 August 1982, transferring State powers to the Community of Valencia;

(j) Aragón: Approved by Organization Act No. 8/1982 of 10 August 1982;

(k) Castilla-La Mancha: Approved by Organization Act No. 9/1982 of 10 August 1982;

(l) Canary Islands: Approved by Organization Act No. 10/1982 of 10 August 1982;

(m) Navarre: Approved by Organization Act No. 13/1982 of 10 August 1982;

(n) Extremadura: Approved by Organization Act No. 1/1983 of 25 February 1983;

(o) Balearic Islands: Approved by Organization Act No. 22/1983 of 28 February 1983;

(p) Madrid: Approved by Organization Act No. 3/1983 of 25 February 1983;

(q) Castilla y León: Approved by Organization Act No. 4/1983 of 25 February 1983.

10. The institutional structure of the Autonomous Communities normally consists of:

(a) A legislative assembly elected by universal suffrage;

(b) A Government Council, with a President elected by the Assembly and appointed by the King;

11. Powers of the Autonomous Communities: Article 148 of the Constitution lists the matters for which the Autonomous Communities may assume jurisdiction, while article 149, paragraph 3, stipulates that "matters not expressly assigned to the State by the present Constitution may fall under the jurisdiction of the Autonomous Communities by virtue of their respective Statutes". This means that the powers of Autonomous Communities may vary considerably from one Community to another. In this respect, the Constitution draws a distinction between Autonomous Communities which accede to self-government by the ordinary procedures of article 146 on the one hand,

and those which obtain their Statute by the extraordinary procedures of article 151 and the second transitional provision on the other.

B. Article 2

1. Guarantee of rights recognized in the Covenant to non-nationals and differences

12. Under the Spanish Constitution of 1978, the fundamental rights of the individual are interpreted in conformity with international rules, as follows (art. 10, para. 2):

"The standards relating to fundamental rights and liberties recognized by the Constitution shall be interpreted in conformity with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and relevant international treaties and agreements ratified by Spain."

13. The rights of foreigners are recognized in title I, article 13, of the Constitution, where it is provided that: "Foreigners in Spain shall enjoy the freedoms guaranteed under the present title in accordance with the terms established by treaty or by law." This general statement is unambiguous: foreigners enjoy the rights and fundamental freedoms set out in title I of the Constitution in the same way as Spanish citizens; that is, in principle, all such rights and freedoms, with the proviso that they apply subject to the terms laid down by treaty or by law.

14. The exception to this rule is set out in paragraph 2 of the same article 13, referring to article 23, which reserves for Spanish citizens the rights of active and passive suffrage, except for the right of active suffrage in municipal elections. Article 23 refers to the right to participate in public affairs, directly or through representatives freely elected in periodic elections by universal suffrage. Nevertheless, the Constitution does allow foreigners to vote in municipal elections subject to reciprocity either by treaty or by law. In effect, the only reform of the Constitution in this

respect has consisted in placing the voting rights of Spanish nationals on an equal footing with those of the citizens of the other member countries of the European Union.

15. Account should also be taken of Organization Act No. 7/1985 of 1 July 1985, concerning the rights and freedoms of foreigners in Spain,

and Royal Decree No. 1119/1986 of 26 May 1986 approving the regulations for implementation of that Act. The enjoyment by foreigners of the safeguards and guarantees established in the Constitution and in the law is provided for in title VII, article 29, of the above Act.

16. Lastly, the case law of the Constitutional Court is very important in this respect. The Court proposed a threefold classification of rights as enjoyed by foreigners when it stated in its judgement 107/84, FJ 4, JC10, that "there are rights enjoyed equally by Spanish and foreign nationals and which must be regulated equally for both; there are rights from which foreigners are altogether excluded (those set out in art. 23 of the Constitution, as stipulated in the reservation expressed in art. 13.2); and there are other rights to which foreigners may or may not aspire, depending on the applicable treaties and laws, which may justify a difference in treatment with respect to those rights between Spanish and foreign nationals".

17. It is therefore possible to identify three major categories of rights to which foreigners may or may not be entitled. Firstly, there are the rights to which all are entitled, which are the inviolable rights "inherent" in human dignity, in conformity with article 10.1 of the Constitution. These rights include the right to life and physical integrity, freedom of ideology and religion, liberty and security, the right to honour and privacy, freedom of expression, procedural guarantees, and the effective protection of the judges and courts. These are direct constitutional rights.

18. Secondly, there are rights to which foreigners may be entitled if provided for under treaties and under Spanish law, subject of course to the proviso that the essential nature of the right concerned may not be distorted. Such rights include, for instance, freedom of assembly and association and most of the social rights.

19. It is true that in some cases the Constitution appears to restrict the enjoyment of a right to Spanish nationals. Examples of this include article 35.1 (right to work), article 41 (public social-security system for all citizens) and article 47 (right to housing). For other kinds of social rights, the Constitution makes no stipulation or distinction on grounds of nationality, which implies that there are no constitutional obstacles to the recognition of foreigners' rights in that respect. In conclusion, it may be said that with regard to social rights the Spanish Constitution does not refer only to Spanish nationals, although the recognition of foreigners' social rights is subject to modifications, restrictions or reservations as established by treaty or by law, which in turn has to be in keeping with constitutional rules.

20. Thirdly, there are rights from whose entitlement and exercise foreigners are expressly excluded, such as the rights to participation in politics and access to public office, as referred to in article 23 of the Constitution,

except with respect to active suffrage in municipal elections and, naturally, European elections where citizens of the European Union are concerned.

Otherwise, freedom of residence and movement, as referred to in article 19 of the Constitution, is also reserved for Spanish nationals, as well as the right of individual and collective petition, referred to in article 29.

2. The right to work

21. With regard to the right to work, the law contains specific provisions against discrimination:

(a) Rules applying to disabled persons include:

(i) The Workers' Statute, article 4, Labour rights: "Nor may they be discriminated against on grounds of physical, mental or sensorial disabilities, provided they are able to perform the work or employment concerned";

(ii) The Social Integration of Disabled Persons' Act, article 38.2: "All regulatory orders, clauses of collective agreements, individual agreements or unilateral decisions by enterprises which imply any form of discrimination against disabled persons in employment with regard to remuneration, working hours or other working conditions shall be considered null and void";

Article 38.3: "In all selection tests for entry into service in the State Administration or Autonomous Communities or in local, institutional or social security administrations, the disabled shall be admitted on equal terms with other applicants";

(b) The rules applying to foreign workers and refugees are as follows:

(i) Royal Decree No. 1119/1986 of 26 May 1986, approving the implementing Regulations of Organization Act No. 7/1985 of 1 July 1985 concerning the rights and freedoms of foreigners in Spain, where article 32 on working conditions stipulates: "The remuneration and other working conditions of foreigners authorized to hold employment in Spain may in no circumstances be inferior to those established under the rules currently applying on Spanish territory or determined by agreement for Spanish workers in the activity, category or locality concerned";

(ii) Workers' Statute, Act No. 8/1980 of 10 March 1980, whose article 4.2 (c) on labour rights establishes the right: "not to be subjected to discrimination in securing employment or, once employed, on grounds of sex, marital status, age (within the limits laid down in this Act), race, social status, religious or political ideas, membership or non-membership of a trade union, or language, within the Spanish State ...".

II. SPECIFIC RIGHTS

A. Article 6

1. State, level and trends of employment, unemployment and underemployment affecting particular categories of workers

Women

22. The proportion of working Spanish women has risen steadily in recent years. This increase is due especially to more women remaining in the labour market even during their reproductive years, although the activity curve still shows a decline in the years when reproductive tasks are more important (25-45 age group).

23. Activity trends have been as follows:

Year Proportion of working women

1984 27.7%

1989 32.8%

1993 34.5%

24. Unemployment has also risen among women in recent years, although the rise should be seen against the general context of rising unemployment throughout Europe; in the last job crisis, which mostly affected industry and agriculture, sectors where women workers continue to be in a minority, female unemployment grew at a slower rate than male unemployment.

25. Female unemployment figures are as follows:

Year Female unemployment rate

1984 23.0%

1989 25.4%

1993 28.6%

26. With regard to the stability of employment of wage-earning women, two aspects may be analysed, working days on part-time work and temporary contracts:

Year Working days full time Working days part time

1991 3,615,500 (88.77%) 456,900 (11.22%)

1993 3,400,800 (85.20%) 589,700 (14.77%)

27. The figures for temporary work are as follows:

Year Temporary contracts for women

1991 1,121,700 (37.28%)

1993 1,102,900 (37.20%)

28. With regard to underemployment, the only data found were for 1985 (Source: Analysis of living and working conditions in Spain, prepared by the Ministry of the Economy and Finance); in that year, 38.7 per cent of working women, a total of 2,002,000, were employed in irregular conditions.

29. Lastly, with regard to female employment in the more depressed regions, traditionally the regions with a lower rate of activity among women have been Andalusia, Castilla-La Mancha, Extremadura, and Ceuta and Melilla, where the proportion was under 30 per cent compared with a national average of over 33 per cent in 1991. Communities with a higher rate of activity among women were Galicia, especially in agricultural work, Catalonia, and the Balearic and Canary Islands.

30. Female unemployment exceeded the national average in the Communities of Extremadura, Andalusia, the Basque Region and the Canaries.

Young people

31. The economic crisis which began in Spain in 1979 and led to a considerable loss of jobs over a period of 10 years was felt more keenly in particular groups, and especially young people. Between the fourth quarter of 1976 and the fourth quarter of 1985, the unemployment rate among young people increased by 37.2 percentage points, from 11.4 to 48.6 per cent. In other words, in 1985, practically every other young person wishing to work was unable to do so. The situation had even more serious implications, however, since youth unemployment at the time was concentrated among the youngest members of the group (in the 16-19 age bracket), among women and among young people who had never worked before, with a simultaneous significant rise in the number of long-term unemployed young people.

32. After 1985, the recovery of the Spanish economy and the employment policy measures introduced at that time led to a change in the general employment trend, with positive effects on the figures for youth unemployment. The current reduction in economic activity, however, has led to stagnation in the labour market, with a consequent fall in job opportunities.

33. Between the fourth quarter of 1985 and the fourth quarter of 1991,

the number of employed young people increased by almost half a million (469,300, or 32.7 per cent), while youth unemployment fell by the same amount. There were thus half a million fewer young people out of work in 1991 than in 1985. This means that over the period the average annual rate of job creation for young people amounted to almost 83,000, the same figure as the average annual decrease in unemployment in the same group. In other words, the rate of unemployment among young people fell by almost 17 percentage points (16.8 per cent), from 48.6 per cent in 1985 to 31.8 per cent in the last quarter of 1991. The figure rose again to 34.3 per cent, however, in the second quarter of 1992, reflecting the impact of the economic recession.

34. It may also be pointed out that between 1985 and 1991, there was a decrease in the concentration of employment among specific categories of young people, especially among the youngest (16 to 19 age group), where unemployment rates decreased by over 18 percentage points, among both men and women. There was also a significant drop in unemployment in the previously unemployed category, which in the period 1985-1991 fell by over half a million (575,000, or 59.2 per cent).

35. With regard to long-term and very-long-term unemployment, the situation also improved considerably for young people in the same period, considering that the number of young people out of work for more than 12 or 24 months decreased by more than 47 per cent. Within the fall of half a million in the figure for youth unemployment, 375,000 were accounted for by young people who had been out of work for more than 12 months.

36. Nevertheless, despite the sharp rise in employment among young people in that period and the marked improvement in unemployment, we still have a youth unemployment rate far above the average for the European Union. And there is still a significant concentration of unemployment among young women, for whom the unemployment rate in the fourth quarter of 1991 was 38.7 per cent compared with 26.3 per cent for young men; these figures rose to 39.80 per cent and 29.9 per cent respectively in the third quarter of 1992.

37. With regard to temporary work, we find that this is a phenomenon which mainly affects young people. Thus the percentage of temporary contracts within the total working population is much higher among young people than in the workforce as a whole; the figure has also tended to increase more markedly in recent years. Thus, while among all employed persons the percentage of temporary contracts rose from 28.2 per cent in the fourth quarter of 1989 to 33.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of 1991, among the working population aged under 25, temporary work increased from 63.1 per cent in 1989 to 72.7 per cent in 1991, on fourth-quarter data; that is to say, two thirds of all young people under 25 are at present working on temporary contracts.

38. This highlights the concentration of temporary work among young people, which in the past two years has increased by 9.6 percentage points. In the second quarter of 1992, temporary work among young people accounted for 73.9 per cent of all work contracts in this group.

2. Principal policies implemented and measures adopted to guarantee employment for any person willing to work and seeking work

Women

39. Act No. 8/80 of 11 March 1980, approving the Workers' Statute, set out, in connection with employment, the principle of non-discrimination contained in article 35.1 of the Constitution. Article 4 of the Statute states that all male and female workers are entitled not to suffer discrimination in securing employment or, once they are employed, on the grounds of sex. Article 17 implicitly forbids the deliberate exclusion of women from promotion and from vocational training. Article 24.2 establishes that a firm's occupational categories and promotion standards shall be in keeping with common rules for workers of either sex. Under article 28 of the Statute, the employer is required "to pay the same wage for equal work ... without any discrimination on grounds of sex". Article 38.2 states that equal opportunity and treatment shall be the basic principles of employment policy and no distinction, exclusion or preference in employment may be established on grounds of sex.

40. Act No. 8/88 of 7 April 1988, on Offences and Penalties in the social sector, penalizes acts by an employer that have a bearing on the prohibition of discrimination. Under article 8, it is a very serious labour offence if the employer "commits acts that are inconsistent with respect for the privacy, and due consideration of the dignity, of workers". This has been taken implicitly to mean that sexual harassment committed by the employer himself or condoned by him is penalized. Under article 28, it is a very serious labour offence "to establish conditions, by advertising or circulating offers of employment or any other means, which constitute gender discrimination in access to employment".

41. Under article 91, the social affairs courts are competent to declare null and void any provisions of collective agreements that are inconsistent with the right to equality: for example, rules stipulating male or female occupational categories inconsistent with article 24 of the Workers' Statute; rules referring to special regulations prohibiting women from being hired for night shifts or establishing different wages for the same work, in breach of article 28 of the Workers' Statute.

42. The Labour Procedure Act (RDL/521/90), for the first time in Spanish labour law, places the burden of proof on the respondent in proceedings in which the claimant alleges discrimination on grounds of sex. Maternity leave has been extended to 16 weeks, the additional period for care (paternal or maternal) of each child is set at three years, and measures have been introduced to foster equal treatment of women in the workplace (Act No. 3/89 of 3 March 1989).

43. The standard of education of the female population of Spain over 16 years of age is lower than that of males. This is not true of women under 30 years of age whose standard of education is similar. There are fewer girls than boys in vocational training (43,379 compared with 56,639), but the major difference is in the occupations selected, since women still prefer branches and studies traditionally chosen by women, although a tendency towards diversification is now starting to appear.

44. To achieve equal opportunity and treatment for women, in connection with the Community Resources Initiative (NOW) the Women's Agency has initiated a programme to coordinate all projects initiated by the local authorities throughout Spain (governments of the Autonomous Communities, municipal authorities and associations). The Women's Agency has also devised an Integrated Plan for Access to Employment in cooperation with the National Employment Institute (INEM) and with local corporations. The Plan covers 22 places in 14 Spanish provinces and employs 334 people; 28,000 explanatory brochures have been distributed.

45. The NOW/INEM/Local Corporations Plan involves five services:

(a) GIRAs (Groups for integration and reintegration in the workforce). This information/guidance service holds one or two-week sessions at which the women who are participating in them identify their interests, skills and weak points, are provided with information on the work environment and on training possibilities and, lastly, draw up their own employment or training plan;

(b) DESCUBRE OTRAS PROFESIONES (Find out about other jobs). This scheme is designed to supplement GIRAs. It is a pre-training service intended to make it easier for unemployed women to become acquainted with conditions in firms and to broaden their work opportunities by an experimental and practical review of four non-traditional and/or innovative areas;

(c) NOVA (Special innovative training action for women). The training included in the Plan is geared exclusively to groups which, either because they form local pockets of female unemployment or because they encounter particular difficulties in obtaining the training that is on general offer, stand in need of a special response, as positive training action. Two groups have been identified: women graduates from Arts Faculties; and women on their own with no one to share family responsibilities;

(d) MABEM (Instruction module for job-seekers). This final-stage project consists in creating continuing counselling and support units for:

(i) Instruction in the most common techniques used in looking for work (writing applications and curricula vitae, interviews, etc.);

(ii) Assistance by experts in working out a personalized plan to look for a job;

(iii) Information areas and technical facilities to carry the job-search plan through guides, interactive videos, directories, subscriptions, etc.;

(e) ENTREPRENEURS. This is also a service which, in this case, has an effect on integrating women in the workforce by helping them to create their own jobs. It consists in creating stable, motivated units, technical assistance, special training and support for business initiatives by women.

Young persons

46. The principal employment measures for the young are found in the Integral Plan for Young Persons, 1989 to 1992. The Plan includes simultaneous action by several Ministries to improve the living conditions of the close on 10 million Spaniards who make up the portion of the population aged 15 to 29.

47. The Ministry of Social Affairs, through organizations such as the Women's Agency and the Young Persons' Institute (INJUVE), adopts various approaches in fostering the employment of young people and, especially, the employment of young women. It supplements the general measures programmed and implemented by the Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of Social Security.

48. The action taken ranges from jobs for the young at the local level, by means of support for municipal youth employment schemes or the use of local employment agencies, to information and vocational training for young women in jobs in which they are not sufficiently represented. It includes quite broad measures, such as subsidies to bodies and associations which arrange activities that help to promote jobs for young people, or more specific action such as aid for young professionals in the performing arts.

49. In addition, the Ministry of Social Affairs cooperates, through its organizations, in other employment-related action: it participates in the agreements between the National Employment Institute and the Public Administrations, it reports on projects to establish youth cooperatives and it takes an active part in the European Transition Programme (PETRA).

50. Attention should be drawn to the following:

(a) The agreement reached between the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP) and INJUVE has, in only two years, led to cooperation agreements with 14 municipalities to support Municipal Youth Employment Plans, for the purpose of setting up local pilot programmes and conducting studies into the needs of the young;

(b) Again, under the FEMP-INJUVE agreement, 11 local youth employment officers were engaged for 8 districts, as the embryo of a future network of "street officers" to assist young job-seekers;

(c) Subsidies for 94 programmes carried out by 48 young persons' associations or bodies providing services for the young. These programmes included activities to make it easier for young men and women to find jobs, to promote self-employment or businesses run by young people, to publicize the trade union rights of young workers or to foster equality of opportunity. These subsidized activities are reckoned to have benefited about 18,000 young people;

(d) Job promotion teams for women have operated in 14 provinces, encouraging the hiring of young women in occupations in which they are under-represented. To encourage the integration of women in such occupations, 56 vocational training courses have been provided in 13 provinces in such fields as the graphic arts, gardening, woodwork, etc. The programme has responded to the needs of almost 1,000 women, a quarter of whom were under 30 years of age;

(e) The European Transition Programme (PETRA) includes participation by the National Coordination Unit for the Programme, whose secretariat function is performed by the Migration Department of the Ministry of Social Affairs. A study has also been conducted to look into the training needs of technical and practical instructors at the Polytechnic University of Madrid.

Disabled persons

51. Persons with disabilities experience difficulties in obtaining jobs. These difficulties lie, first, in lower productivity and a more restricted field of employment, and second, in social stereotyping about the inability of such people to work, which is the result of ignorance, prejudice and, in some cases, excessively protective attitudes.

52. The adoption of the Social Integration of Disabled Persons Act (No. 13/1982 of 7 April 1982) establishes a suitable legislative framework for protecting and regulating the right of disabled persons to employment and is intended to make it an effective right.

53. The guiding principle behind the Act is to ensure normal integration of such persons in the workforce, wherever the disability so permits, and priority is therefore given to ordinary employment, failing which other kinds of suitable employment are envisaged for them.

54. For example, article 37 (title VII), on integration in the workforce, states:

"The prime purpose of employment policy for disabled persons is to integrate them in the ordinary system of employment or, failing this, to incorporate them in the production system through special forms of protected work ...".

55. A number of steps have been taken to implement this legislation.

56. Establishment of quotas for disabled persons. A compulsory quota of at least 2 per cent of the number of employees was set aside for disabled persons in public and private undertakings with more than 50 permanent workers. Subsequently, Act No. 23/1988 of 28 July 1988, amending the Civil Service Reform Act, increased the quota in the public sector to 3 per cent of existing vacancies, provided the requirements deemed compulsory for adapting them for disabled persons are met.

57. Measures to eliminate discrimination against disabled persons. In article 38, paragraphs 2 and 3, the Social Integration of Disabled Persons Act safeguards the principle of non-discrimination in regard to pay and hours and conditions of work for disabled persons in both the public and private sectors.

58. Measures for the reinstatement of workers who have been affected by a disability on completion of the period of recovery. Royal Decree No. 1451/83 of 11 May 1983, which regulates selective employment and sets out measures to provide jobs for disabled persons, stipulates that, in the case of workers with a disability, it is compulsory for firms to re-engage them in their previous posts once the period of recovery has ended. For this purpose, it sets out the following provisions:

(a) The regulations are supplemented by incentives for firms which reinstate workers in their last post; they involve a 50 per cent reduction in the employer's social security contribution for a period of two years;

(b) Similarly, priority is given to occupational rehabilitation programmes in cases of industrial accidents or occupational diseases, with comprehensive care services for persons striving for full rehabilitation and reintegration in the workforce.

59. Measures to promote the employment of disabled persons. The Social Integration of Disabled Persons Act sets out in article 38, paragraph 4, a range of measures by the public authorities to promote employment, measures later developed in further legislation, more particularly Royal Decree No. 1451/1983 of 11 May 1983. Within this legislative framework, the following incentives to promote ordinary employment for this group have been introduced in Spain:

(a) Incentives to hire disabled persons on an indefinite basis: the public authorities provide firms, regardless of their form in law, and work cooperatives with a number of incentives when they conclude contracts of employment with disabled persons;

(b) Incentives for self-employment: the programmes to promote self-employment, regulated by the Order of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security of 21 February 1986 and by annual ministerial orders regulating applications for official assistance to disabled persons for each financial year, are intended to promote and to help finance projects to turn unemployed disabled persons into self-employed workers;

(c) Incentives to foster training by means of apprenticeship contracts, a method that is part of the policy of supporting job creation and encouraging the integration of young persons in the workforce. Apprenticeship contracts, regulated by Royal Decree No. 18/1993 of 3 December 1993, on Urgent Measures to Promote Employment, are intended to ensure the acquisition of the requisite practical skills to do a job properly. They establish a period for theoretical training and another for practical work. The contracts may not be for less than six months or more than three years. To encourage the employment of young disabled persons, this legislation sets out a number of incentives to hire them, such as exemptions from social security contributions for the risks covered by this kind of contract and subsidies to adapt workstations and eliminate obstacles in buildings, as well as incentives to convert apprenticeship contracts into full-time permanent contracts.

60. The Social Integration of Disabled Persons Act (No. 13/1982 of 17 April 1982) sets out in article 41 two kinds of protected employment for disabled persons who, on account of the nature or the consequences of their disability, are temporarily or permanently unable to perform a job under the usual conditions: the Special Employment Centres and the Occupational Centres. The decision to help a disabled person to adapt to a specific type of job lies with multidisciplinary assessment teams, which have to determine the possibilities for genuine integration and the disabled person's work capacity:

(a) The purpose of the Special Employment Centres, under article 42 of the Act, is to provide productive work, with regular participation in the market, and to ensure paid employment and personal and social adaptation services for disabled workers. The Centres are manned entirely by workers in this category;

(b) Under article 53 of the Act, Occupational Centres are established to guarantee work and personal and social adaptation services for seriously disabled persons. This is regarded as a suitable means of achieving their social integration. The Occupational Centres provide the following services: comprehensive personal care; occupational therapy; personal and social adaptation services; leisure and free-time activities; medical and psycho-social care; and home services, where appropriate.

61. Another kind of measure adopted in Spain to encourage the integration of disabled persons in the workforce is to be found in the occupational rehabilitation programmes for the disabled. These are regulated by article 32 of the Act, which stipulates that: "Disabled persons of working age shall be entitled to social security occupational rehabilitation services under the terms set out in this Act".

Refugees and/or asylees

62. Act No. 5/1984 of 26 March 1984, regulating the right of asylum and refugee status, states in connection with employment:

Article 13: "The grant of asylee status entails authorization to live in Spain, authorization to engage in an occupation, a profession or business ...";

Article 22.3: "Anyone granted refuge in Spain, if he wishes to engage in gainful employment, whether or not on his own account, may be issued with the requisite residence and work permits".

63. Furthermore, the Workers' Statute provides for non-discrimination in labour relations, as stipulated in article 17:

"Regulations, clauses in collective agreements, individual contracts and unilateral decisions by the employer that entail unfavourable or adverse discrimination in employment, and also in remuneration, hours of work and other conditions, on grounds of sex, origin, marital status, race, social status, religious ideas ... shall be deemed null and void".

The Workers' Statute establishes a system of penalties and a procedure for penalizing employers who act in breach of these rules (art. 17).

64. However, despite the fact that a foreign asylee and/or refugee worker is placed formally on an equal footing with a Spanish worker, the State is aware of the greater difficulty such persons encounter in finding employment. Accordingly, it has designed and started to implement a number of programmes to help their integration in the workforce.

65. The Guidance and Assistance Programme for Integration in Society and the Workforce provides the following services:

(a) Training activities in connection with business and employment in Spain;

(b) Financial assistance in setting up an own-account activity.

66. The goal of the Educational and Vocational Training Assistance Programme is to provide technical and vocational training to refugees and/or asylees who stand in need of it and to support the education of the children of refugees and asylees. It provides the following services:

(a) Financial assistance for studies at the various levels of education;

(b) Fellowships;

67. Each year, calls are issued for subsidies for self-employment and vocational training projects, including those submitted by non-profit NGOs for people in this group.

Ethnic minorities

68. In addition to the general employment development programmes that have been established for the rest of the population, the authorities have adopted other specific measures, organized, through special legislation, which constitute affirmative action on a temporary basis and recognize the situation of social inequality of the Gypsy minority.

69. Some of these measures are included in the Gypsy Development Plan, and since 1989 there has been a specific budgetary allotment in the General State Budget for the financing of comprehensive action projects for Gypsy communities in difficulty. In the framework of these comprehensive projects, activities are conducted in the following areas:

(a) Information on job training availability, rights and duties, and social s