Medical certificate for over 40's in Spain

[Chavodel8en]

So looks like there's no consensus here.

Should I chance it just going w/ only the certificate (all NOs) signed by me only.

 

[Caudiver]

The Spanish Law about recreational diving is clear; it is compulsory a medical certificated signed by a hyperbaric doctor which expires after two years. Another story is if the diving centers really ask for them before diving (extremely rare)
I copy an extract from the law (BOE.es - Documento BOE-A-1997-24978)

CAPÍTULO IV

Disposiciones complementarias

Artículo 25. De los reconocimientos médicos de las personas que se sometan a un ambiente hiperbárico.

1. Toda persona que se someta a un ambiente hiperbárico, deberá realizar previamente un examen médico especializado.

2. Este examen o posteriores reconocimientos deben ser realizados por médicos que posean título, especialidad, diploma o certificado, relacionado con actividades subacuáticas, emitido por un organismo oficial.

3. Los reconocimientos periódicos serán obligatorios para acceder a cualquier título o certificado que habilite para someterse a un medio hiperbárico, aparte del examen inicial (este debe figurar en un certificado médico oficial).

4. Se repetirán anualmente en el caso de los buceadores y bazos profesionales. Este reconocimiento debe figurar en su libreta de actividades subacuáticas.

5. Se repetirán cada dos años en el caso de los buceadores deportivo-recreativos. Este reconocimiento debe figurar en su libreta de actividades subacuáticas.

 

[chrisch]

So looks like there's no consensus here.

Should I chance it just going w/ only the certificate (all NOs) signed by me only.

No. The cost benefit is clear. If you have a recent medical you are not going to get a "no" from wherever you go and whichever centre takes your fancy. Measure that against the cost of getting there and all the other issues and the medical becomes nothing more than an irritation.

We dive in France and the same issue comes up. Strictly speaking you need a medical but some centres don't bother. But then you cannot dive with anyone but the ones that don't bother. (France is annual medical all ages).

 

[CaptGraybeard]

Certified divers need a doctors medical certificate by law on Mallorca. If you need one you can get it from a local doctor for €20 each. The certificate is valid worldwide up to two years. Doctor is first come, first served. At this writing, the doctors office hours are Sun-Thurs from 8.30am - 1.30pm.

You need a form that your dive shop can provide. I convinced my shop (Big Blue Diving) to send one to me in advance due to my schedule. I’m fitting in a dive before a week long sailing course.

Hope this helps future inquiries.

 

[ElizaDoolittle]

Even though this is an old thread, it may still be interesting nowadays for people wanting to dive in Spain. In the recent past, a medical certificate was compulsory in Spain, no matter how old you were, and you had to renew it every two years. Additionally, it had to be issued by a doctor who's an specialist in hyperbaric medicine (even though there's no such specialty in Spanish medicine faculties), not any old family doctor.

But as of summer 2020, the certificate is only compulsory if you are over 45. If you aren't, you will have to fill in a form answering some questions, and depending on your answers, they'll ask you to get a certificate or not. I think that you still need to have a new certificate every two years, though I'm not 100% sure about this. It could be one, though I don't think so.

All of this said, I'll be starting my OWD course in two weeks' time, and when I sent an email to the diving school, they told me, among other things, that I had to get the certificate, without knowing my age (and this was after it stopped being compulsory for everybody). I don't know whether they did so because they want to make sure every new diver meets the health requirements, and won't ask it for, say, an AOWD course. Because of my age, I do need the certificate, and I was going to get one anyway, even if it hadn't been compulsory for me, just to know everything's all right.

 

[David Novo]

Theorically a medical certificate is compulsory for diving in Spain. This does not depend on your age (you need it been 18 or 95 years old) and it has to be renovated every two years . Once said this, I do not remember last time a Diving Center ask me to show mine.

Some dive centers in Cabo de Pallos require a medical certificate for deeper dives (such as Naranjito)...

 

[Edward3c]

I am going to Cala D'or in Mallorca and have a medical cert that I used last year in Port Pollensa, Mallorca. I have however been told once you are over 40 the medical certificate needs to be renewed every year.

Does anyone know if that's correct?

One reason I don’t dive in Spain is the legal requirement to have a medical certificate, not a self declaration.

I understand there are operators who ignore this, but if you had an incident the authorities might make life difficult for you, plus your insurance might be invalid.

 

[atus]

One reason I don’t dive in Spain is the legal requirement to have a medical certificate, not a self declaration.

I understand there are operators who ignore this, but if you had an incident the authorities might make life difficult for you, plus your insurance might be invalid.

I know this is an old topic, but may be I can help you. In Spain is mandatory to have a medical certificate for diving, which have to be done every two years, with the actual law in the hand this medical certificate must not to be signed by an hyperbaric doc, as long as this speciality doesn't exist as that in Spain. So a "normal" doctor it's fine. By chance I had this conversation with the chief of the underwater corp police (G.E.A.S - Guardia Civil) in Ibiza, which is also the instructor trainer for all the corp in Spain.
In the reality dive centers will only ask you for that when taking courses or in dsd's. If you are a certified diver and just want to dive with the center almost nobody will ask you for that certificate.
The responsability disclaimer for the dive center is "wet paper" in Spain, that's not a legal figure here, so several dive centers make you sign it, but if something happens this paper have not any kind of validity in front a judge.
If you are a certificate diver all you need to dive with a dive center is your certification and the insurance, if they don't know you they'll probably want to see you diving before bring you to a more compromised dive site.
The authorities can never make your insurance invalid, an insurance is a private contract between you and a company, so if you didn't lie to the company ( and they can demonstrate it ) you have nothing to fear about that.

 

[andrespp]

since July 2020, medical certificate is NOT required in Spain.

a declaration of responsibility form, filled in by the diver himself along with a health questionnaire, will suffice.

 

[atus]

since July 2020, medical certificate is NOT required in Spain.

a declaration of responsibility form, filled in by the diver himself along with a health questionnaire, will suffice.

You are right, I have just read the BOE again and the diver only have to fill in a predefined questionnaire.