In short: Foreign degree recognition has been suspended in Spain since 22 October 2026. The Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities closed the electronic office of the General Secretariat for Universities that day because of a technical incident, and it does not accept applications for recognition of foreign degrees. Deadlines of the affected procedures are extended until the incident is resolved, and the notice gives no reopening date.
What changes for you today
If you were about to file an application for homologación or equivalencia, you cannot now: the office is closed and the notice says the Registro Electrónico General is not an option either. If you have a procedure under way with an open deadline, for example to provide documents, the notice extends that deadline. How the normal procedure works is in the guide Foreign degree recognition in Spain: homologación or equivalencia.
What happened
On 22 October 2026 the ministry published a notice. Because of a technical incident, still under assessment, it closed the electronic sub-office of the General Secretariat for Universities (universidades.sede.gob.es), the portal where these procedures are filed.
The notice suspends all procedures under way. It also suspends the filing of applications for recognition of foreign university degrees: homologación, declaración de equivalencia, accreditation and recognition under the Directive (the European one on professional qualifications). The notice does not mention non-university qualifications.
How it works now
Before, the application was filed online in that office. Now the office is closed, and applications sent through the Registro Electrónico General, the online registry of the central State administration, are not accepted.
For the deadlines, the notice cites article 32, sections 4 and 5, of Ley 39/2015, the law on administrative procedure. In one sentence: when the administration's electronic system fails, it can extend deadlines. Section 4 speaks of deadlines that had not yet expired and asks the administration to publish the incident and the extension on its electronic office.
What changes
Before this incident, homologación and equivalencia were processed online and deadlines ran as usual. Now procedures under way and new applications are suspended. The deadlines of the affected procedures are extended until the incident is fully resolved.
What happens next
The ministry says it will announce the reopening on the electronic office and on its website. There is no date. The notice was still published on 29 October 2026.
What you can do
- Do not send the application through the Registro Electrónico General: the notice says it is not accepted.
- Wait for the reopening announcement and check the ministry's notice from time to time.
- If you already had a procedure under way, the notice extends its deadline. If the deadline had ended before 22 October, ask the ministry about your file.
- Meanwhile you can gather documents: the list is in the guide on homologación and equivalencia.
Official source: Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, notice of 22 October 2026.
Informational only; check the official source and a professional for your specific case.