Torrelavega approves the parking ordinance for people with disabilities

The Torrelavega City Council has finalized the Regulatory Ordinance for the Creation and Reservation of Parking and the Granting of Parking Cards for people with disabilities, through Resolution No. 4620/2026 of the Mayor’s Office-Presidency, dated August 25, 2026. The text is published in the Official Gazette of Cantabria number 168, dated September 1, 2026, with reference CVE-2026-6821 and file 2026/2106A.

The final approval comes after the initial agreement of the City Council Plenary on June 25, 2026, against which no allegations or claims were filed. The new regulation replaces the municipal ordinance on parking and permits for disabled persons approved on March 26, 2004, which is hereby repealed.

Adaptation to regional regulations

The ordinance is reformed to adapt to Decree 95/2025, of December 30, which regulates the parking card for people with reduced mobility in Cantabria (published in the BOC No. 3, of January 7, 2026), and which required city councils to adjust their ordinances within six months. The text is further supported by Royal Legislative Decree 1/2013, Law 9/2018 on the Guarantee of the Rights of People with Disabilities, and Royal Decree 1056/2014, which regulates the issuance and use of the card.

Requirements and validity of the card

The card may be obtained by people registered in Torrelavega with recognized disabilities who are in any of the following situations:

• Presenting reduced mobility declared in accordance with Royal Decree 888/2022.
• Showing in the better eye a visual acuity equal to or less than 0.1 with correction, or a visual field reduced to 10 degrees or less.
• Exceptionally and provisionally, for humanitarian reasons, people with reduced mobility not officially certified due to extremely serious illness.

The card will be valid for ten years when the reduced mobility is permanent, and will expire upon the death of the holder. The provisional humanitarian card will last for a maximum of one year, renewable for another equal period. Renewal must be requested at least three months before expiration, and the new card will retain the same number as the previous one.

Procedure and deadlines

The processing of parking reservations corresponds to the Mobility Service, while the granting of cards is managed through the City Council’s Social Services. Files for the creation, modification, or extinction of reservations must be resolved within a maximum period of four months, while card applications will be resolved in three months, being understood as granted by administrative silence otherwise.

Reserved spaces shall be marked in accordance with Order TMA/851/2021, with the international symbol of disability, the S-17 parking sign, and the R-308 sign with the text “except disability”. Reservations are not for exclusive use: any person with reduced mobility who possesses a card may use them.

Infractions and sanctions

It is considered an infraction to assign or authorize the use of the card to third parties, to forge or alter it, to use it outside of its validity period, or to park in reserved areas without the holder being present. The sanction for the holder shall consist of the withdrawal of the card for a minimum period of one month, and its cancellation if there is a recurrence at least twice in one year. Unauthorized parking in reserved spaces will be sanctioned as a minor traffic offense and may lead to the removal of the vehicle.

The ordinance will enter into force fifteen days after its full publication in the BOC. Against the agreement, which is final in administrative proceedings, a contentious-administrative appeal may be filed within two months. The regulation, signed by Mayor Javier López Estrada, reinforces legal certainty and administrative simplification of an essential right for the mobility of people with disabilities in Torrelavega.

Source: Official Gazette of Cantabria, no. 168, September 1, 2026, section 1. General Provisions, page 41621 (official reference: CVE-2026-6821).