Equivalence of foreign university degrees equivalent to Spanish Bachelor's, Master's or Doctorate degrees.

Royal Decree 889/2022 establishes the procedure for the equivalence of foreign qualifications, which involves the official recognition of the training completed to obtain a foreign qualification, comparable to that required to obtain a Bachelor's, Master's or Doctorate degree, excluding the professional effects of those qualifications that can be obtained by homologation.

Further information (website of the Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities)

Under the current system, the competent authority is the Ministry responsible for universities, which will decide on applications with the support of the Technical Analysis Committee for Recognition and Equivalence (CATHYDE), comprising the Ministry, ANECA, and experts representing the universities. This Commission may establish general measures to decide on applications with similar characteristics (same country, same university, same curriculum) or request specific reports from ANECA or from experts or professionals.

To prepare these specific reports, ANECA has an external team of experts from different fields who are responsible for evaluating applications for recognition and equivalence received by the Ministry responsible for universities. The composition of this team can be consulted here.

As part of the Agency's powers in this process, ANECA may propose the establishment of general measures for application, based on the identification of similar characteristics in foreign degrees that make them susceptible to the application of uniform criteria. These measures affect equivalencies at the Bachelor's and Master's degree levels.

Likewise, the Foreign Qualifications Recognition and Equivalence Program has a Recognition and Equivalence Committee whose function is to ensure the consistency of the reports issued and to review cross-cutting issues affecting the Program in order to implement the appropriate improvements. The composition of the Committee can be consulted here. 

Special case for university professors:

RD 678/2023 establishes in Article 4 (“General requirements for accreditation for access to the body of university professors”) that, in order to be eligible for accreditation as a university professor, it is a requirement to hold a doctorate degree and that foreign doctorate degrees may be accepted if a declaration of equivalence has been obtained.

Likewise, in accordance with the provisions of the second additional provision (“Declaration of equivalence to the academic level of Doctor”) of RD889/2022, it is the responsibility of universities to declare the equivalence of foreign degrees to the academic level of Doctor.