Why are some people with HIV still being barred from driving taxis in Spain?

HIV can no longer keep someone out of Spain’s armed forces or police force. So why can it still keep someone out of a job as a taxi driver?

Outdated regulations that cause nationwide discrimination concerns

Controversy centres on local taxi licensing regulations that are still on the books in around 50 Spanish areas across seven autonomous communities. A joint study by Spain’s HIV and Labour Commission, made up of unions UGT, CCOO and advocacy groups CESIDA, FELGTBI+, and the Working Positively group, found that plenty of local bylaws still quietly require applicants to be free from “infectious-contagious diseases” to get a taxi licence.

These clauses were written long before modern HIV treatment existed, but campaigners say they still effectively shut people with HIV out of the job, even with doctors saying for years that you can’t catch HIV from sharing a car with someone, or from everyday contact with a passenger.

Cities under scrutiny

This isn’t just a handful of small towns that forgot to update a form. The list includes major provincial capitals and some of Spain’s biggest tourist destinations:

Andalucia: Restrictive clauses were found in all seven of its most populous cities — Malaga, Sevilla, Granada, Cadiz, Almeria, Motril, and Alcala de Guadaira.
Region of Murcia: A dozen local towns were named in the Ombudsman’s own investigation, the wider report actually identifies restrictive clauses in 14 Murcia towns in total.
Madrid: Madrid, Alcala de Henares, and Orusco de Tajuña all still ban anyone with an “infectious disease”, full stop, no further explanation.
Canary Islands: The single biggest concentration in the country, with 20 areas flagged, including Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, San Cristobal de La Laguna, Arona, and La Orotava.
Similar clauses are still active in Badajoz, Caceres, Albacete, Ciudad Real, Chiloeches, Leon and El Arenal.

With these areas all listed, it’s serious enough that Spain’s Ombudsman has stepped in to formally investigate the Murcia cases, following complaints from UGT. Now both the Ombudsman and campaigners are pushing councils nationwide to catch up their bylaws with the law that’s already on the books.

National law vs. local

Spain has actually made real progress on this at the national level. Under the 2018 Social Pact for Non-Discrimination and Equal Treatment Associated with HIV, the country scrapped blanket HIV restrictions for public-sector roles, including the Civil Guard, National Police, and Armed Forces and Spain’s Law 15/2022 on Equal Treatment and Non-Discrimination is unambiguous: you can’t discriminate against someone in hiring, employment, or self-employment because of their health or HIV status. Courts have already sent a signal here too. A 2025 ruling struck down a decision by Spain’s traffic authority (DGT) to halve a driver’s licence validity purely because he disclosed his HIV status, the first ruling of its kind in Spain, and a case campaigners say should apply equally to taxi licensing

A test for local councils

The frustration for campaigners is that none of that progress matters much if a local bylaw clause can still quietly shut someone out. They argue these lingering ordinances keep stigma alive and create barriers that have no basis in science.

Their ask is that they swap the vague “infectious-contagious disease” ban for the same standard everyone else is held to, a medical certificate confirming general fitness to drive, physical and mental.