A Cuban surgeon joined a group of professionals of different nationalities, mostly Latinos, in demonstrations in front of the Social Security offices in Valencia, Spain, to demand the homologation of their titles as university students and the validity of their studies in that European country.
According to the Valencian portal Levante, the Cuban doctor identified as Marcos endured jobs that “the Spanish don’t like, like cleaning houses or taking care of the elderly,” while the crisis of health workers worsened in Spain.
He, along with his countryman, Yanaris, He studied medicine at the University of Havana and, after immigrating to Spain, paid the corresponding fee to the Ministry of Education two years ago to approve his degree and to start working.
He did not know about this process because “so far no one has responded or knows what the process of his approval is,” said the report.
The two doctors joined a list of similar stories, saying that they demand more speed for their integration process in the Spanish labor market. The data presented in Levant indicated that the personnel of the Spanish Ministry of Education dealing with the issue were insufficient because “they accumulate 34,200 files awaiting resolution in drawers, and although they release 2,500 a month, 3,000 enter”.
These numbers also show the despair experienced by Marcos, Yanaris, and other professionals involved in this situation. Three years ago, Cuban doctor Cristóbal Franquelo, associate specialist in gynecology and obstetrics at the Osakidetza-Basque Health Service, based in the autonomous community of the Basque Country, suggested the campaign “NOW approve thousands of doctor hopefuls to work”.
The request, made through the platform Change.org, described that “thousands of doctors are waiting for the approval of the medical studies they have done in other countries.” Its purpose does not seem to fade with time.
Moreover, he pointed out that it will happen “while the political class does not stop repeating the mantra that there is a shortage of doctors in Spain, especially in primary care in most communities, with Madrid being the highlight.”
Likewise, in the case of doctors who decide to leave Cuba, in addition to these conditions, the legalization of their university degrees will go through a more difficult process.
According to Resolution 4 of 2023 of the Ministry of Justice, Cuban doctors who request their papers at Cuban universities must pay 6,250 CUP for each of the following documents: notes, thematic plan, permission to practice the profession, certification of legal competence, and sick leave from work or teaching.
These four documents are attached to 25,000 CUP. The university degree itself only needs to be legalized before the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) and before the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MINREX), but it can be 5,000 CUP plus 40 CUP for stamps. All this in the middle of a severe crisis in the country to obtain the necessary physical stamps.
Besides, the Cuban government has continued surveillance of Cuban health workers protected by decree laws 302 and 306 amendments to Law 1312 “Immigration Law”, which establishes the limits of entry and exit from Cuba for all Cubans, with special emphasis on health personnel and, generally, qualified personnel.
Among them, “graduates of higher education who perform important activities for the economic, social, and scientific-technical development of the country in strategic programs, research projects, and health services,” outlines the first article, subsection b of the Decree-Law. 306.
