*) CHIROPRACTIC, despite being recognized as a health profession by the World Health Organization (WHO), and having a sanitary character in most developed countries of the world, including many European countries such as United Kingdom, France, Portugal, Italy, Denmark or Switzerland, and in some of them with recognition as a basic health profession, IS NOT A HEALTH PROFESSION AND HAS NOT BEEN THE SUBJECT OF EXPRESS REGULATION IN SPAIN. As health regulations are a matter of domestic law and reserved to the sovereignty of each EU member country, the chiropractic profession in Spain is in a regulatory vacuum. The Spanish Association of Chiropractors (A.E.Q.) has requested the Spanish Parliament and the competent Ministries of Health and Education to promote the legislative process that recognizes the sanitary nature and substantivity of the chiropractic profession. In countries with legal regulation, the degree in Chiropractic is obtained at the end of the 5 or 6 year educational programs. Two Spanish institutions, the Real Centro Universitario María Cristina de Madrid (UCR) and the Barcelona College of Chiropractic (BCC), offer five-year programs (OWN, NOT OFFICIAL DEGREES) for the training and practice of chiropractic, pending legal recognition of this profession in Spain. In the meantime, these degrees meet all the standards of quality and excellence required by the European Council of Chiropractic Education (E.C.C.E.), and paradoxically, Spanish graduates may practice as official health professionals in other countries such as the United States, France or England, but not in their own. The A.E.Q. was created and recognized by the Ministry of the Interior in 1986, it includes 200 members who hold a university degree recognized by the European Council of Chiropractic Education, which guarantees compliance with the highest standards of quality in the practice of this profession at European level, but unfortunately, to date, our degrees and diplomas are NOT OFFICIAL TITLES IN SPAIN. If you are being attended by a chiropractor, check and verify that he/she is a member of the A.E.Q. in the section “Find a chiropractor” of their web page: http://www.quiropractica-aeq.com, that way you will have the guarantee that he/she meets the quality standards established by E.C.C.E.. The regulation of chiropractic in Spain is a matter of political opportunity, but meanwhile, chiropractic professionals who meet the requirements established by the Statutes of the A.E.Q. are in a situation of legal uncertainty and comparative grievance with other professionals from other European countries, and it may happen that citizens are treated by alleged chiropractors who do not meet the minimum quality standards required internationally.

(**) The website www.clinicaqo.es provides information about the professional services of James Birdseye Chiropractor at Clínica QO S.L., the company that owns the contents of this website. The contents of this website are provided for informational and informative purposes. The owner is not responsible for the content or the statements and opinions expressed by third parties on its website. The contents of the website do not constitute nor are intended to replace a professional health advice, since CHIROPRACTICE IS NOT A HEALTH PROFESSION AND HAS NOT BEEN THE SUBJECT OF EXPRESS REGULATION IN SPAIN, so the owner assumes no liability, direct or indirect, that may arise from the use that could be made of such information.

(***) “Chiropractic is a health profession concerned with the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disorders of the neuromusculoskeletal system and the effects of these on general health. It is based on manual techniques, including joint adjustments and/or manipulations focusing primarily on subluxations.” World Health Organization, (W.H.O.) Definition. Chiropractic Guidelines, 2005