The difference between nurses and doctors that did not disappear with Bologna

PalmaNurses continue to be classified as A2 category personnel in the public health system, a situation that the collective is demanding to change. The claim is not new, but in 2026 it has gained weight with the reform of the Framework Statute of statutory personnel of health services, which proposes leaving behind the current A1-A2 system and establishing a new classification linked to the level of qualifications. In the Balearic Islands, the IB-Salut salary tables place nurses, midwives, and physiotherapists in the A2 category, among other health categories that hold a university degree. The debate also affects professions such as speech therapy and occupational therapy. And also the education sector, where Primary and Infant education teachers are A2 and Secondary, Vocational Training, and Special Regime teachers are A1.

The origin of the classification predates the Bologna Process. The current Basic Statute of the Public Employee (EBEP) divides Group A into subgroups A1 and A2. Both require a university degree, but the law differentiates them based on the level of responsibility of the duties and the characteristics of the access tests. What professional organizations are demanding is that this division be reviewed because professions that were traditionally diplomas are now university degrees. SATSE argues that keeping Nursing in A2 has consequences for professional careers, access to certain positions, and remuneration.

In the Balearic Islands, part of this difference can be seen in the Health pay scales. The base salary of an A2 professional is 1,199.52 euros per month, while that of an A1 is 1,387.24 euros. The difference is 187.72 euros in each of the twelve ordinary monthly payments. However, the extraordinary payments do not have the same base salary amount. In 2026, they are 874.83 euros for A2 and 856.05 euros for A1. Therefore, if only the base salary concept is compared across the fourteen payments, the annual difference is 2,215.08 euros in favor of A1.

This is not the real difference between what a nurse earns and what a doctor earns, for example. The payroll of IB-Salut staff includes other concepts, such as the destination supplement and the specific supplement, which depend on the specific position. For example, a nurse in a Primary Care team has an annual remuneration of 32,589.30 euros according to the 2026 tables. A nurse specializing in Family and Community medicine reaches 37,051.78 euros, while a midwife has an annual remuneration of 34,432.54 euros. A nurse from ESAD (Home Care Support Team), SUAP (Primary Care Emergency Service), CCU (Emergency Coordination Center), or UME (Medicalized Emergency Unit) is listed with 35,208.54 euros per year.

In A1, the amounts are different, but so are the positions and supplements. A doctor from CCU, UME, or SUAP is assigned 53,162.02 euros per year, while the head of the 061 Emergency care service reaches 59,478.34 euros. For all these reasons, the figures in the tables do not allow one to say that a nurse would automatically earn a specific higher amount if they moved from A2 to A1. To know the exact effect of a classification change, one would need to maintain the same position and calculate how all the supplements would end up.

The president of the Official College of Nurses (COIBA), María José Sastre, explains that the collective has been working for years to put an end to the A2 classification, which she considers "a great injustice," because the current professional classification "has become absolutely obsolete" and places nurses in a group that does not correspond to their degree training nor to the level of responsibility they assume. According to the college, this implies "a comparative grievance" and generates a feeling of professional discrimination, in addition to limiting career development, access to management positions, and remuneration appropriate to their training. Sastre shows as an example that another professional with exclusively degree training can manage a hospital or a Primary Care center while a nurse, even with specific training in management, is excluded simply for belonging to the A2 group. This is precisely the case that occurred at the Sa Torre health center, where at the request of the doctors (Official College and Simebal union), the appointment of a nurse as head of the HC was overturned. The college believes that the new Framework Statute can resolve this situation with a new classification based on criteria of qualification, competencies, and university training, which would place the Nursing degree at level 6 of the MECU and specialist nurses at level 7.

What is to come

The Ministry of Health has opted for a different path than the simple conversion of A2 to A1. The new Framework Statute approved by the Council of Ministers, with the frontal rejection of doctors for numerous reasons, proposes a new classification of personnel based on the Spanish Qualifications Framework for Lifelong Learning (MECU). According to the proposal, nurses and physiotherapists would remain in group 6, while specialist nurses would move to group 7. The new system will also have to specify the remuneration consequences of this classification. The project still has to complete the parliamentary process.

In parallel, Congress is processing another path. In December 2025, it took into consideration a bill from the Parliament of Cantabria to modify Article 76 of the EBEP and eliminate the division between A1 and A2 within Group A for bodies that require a degree title. These are two different reforms that affect different areas. In the case of IB-Salut nurses, the one that directly affects their regime is the reform of the Framework Statute.