Spain’s parliament on Thursday passed the third constitutional amendment in the country’s history, removing the term “persons with disabilities” and replacing it with “persons with disabilities.”
This change has been a long-standing demand of people with disabilities in Spain. The amendment to Article 49 also added that “the public administration shall pursue policies that guarantee the full autonomy and social inclusion of persons with disabilities.”
Spain’s ruling Socialist Party and the conservative opposition People’s Party agreed to make the changes in a rare moment of agreement between Europe’s largest political parties.
The amendment was also supported by all other small parties represented in the chamber, with the exception of the far-right Vox Party. The bill passed with a vote of 312-32. It requires support from three-fifths of the House of Representatives and must be passed by an equally narrow margin in the Senate.
“Today is a great day for our democracy,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said, asking for forgiveness in the name of the country for taking so long to change.
“We are repaying a moral debt we owe to more than 4 million of our fellow citizens,” he said.
Spain’s 1978 constitution, which marked a return to democracy from General Francisco Franco’s dictatorship, has only been amended twice so far.
The First Amendment of 1992 allowed nationals of other European Union member states to stand as candidates in Spanish local elections. The second amendment in 2011 was aimed at meeting EU rules on public deficits in the midst of the eurozone debt crisis.