Outside the Dirección Provincial de Educación in Palencia parents protested on 14 September because their son still has no “mediador comunicativo” in class, despite a final ruling. The Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Castilla y León had, in Sentencia 90/2026 confirmed the child’s right to this specialised support in the school setting; the ruling became final on 17 April.
According to the family, the boy attends the Colegio de Educación Especial Carrechiquilla in Palencia and, due to a rare condition, mainly uses Lengua de Signos Española to communicate. The parents stress that the requested “mediador comunicativo” is necessary for accessible access to lessons and is explicitly named in the ruling. Instead, for the current school year, the education authority has assigned ten hours a week with a teacher specialising in Audición y Lenguaje . The parents say this qualification does not match the profile required by the ruling and leaves key communication barriers in place.
The ruling of the Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Castilla y León orders, according to the family, that the school authority provide a specialist qualified in Mediación Comunicativa. In Spain, this professional profile is established for supporting people with severe communication difficulties, particularly in educational and social settings. The parents point out that assigning a teacher of Audición y Lenguaje covers a different set of duties and qualifications from facilitating and ensuring communication in the sense of Mediación Comunicativa.
The family is demanding that the “mediador comunicativo” be available throughout the school day. It considers that the child’s right to inclusive and accessible education should be put into effect without further delay. On the day of the demonstration, reports in regional media contained no new commitments from the education authority in Palencia to implement the ruling at short notice.
The case highlights a recurring conflict in Castilla y León between final rulings in favour of individual support needs and the practical provision of staff in schools. Whether the authority now assigns a specialist with the required qualifications on a temporary or permanent basis depends on staff availability, administrative procedures and the binding force of the ruling. What is clear is that the right has been recognised by the court; what remains in dispute is its specific and timely implementation in everyday school life.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).