La Massana couple delayed months for disability parking permit
Retired couple say CONAVA has not completed a required home inspection, blocking a permit that would let an amputee husband use accessible parking.
Key Points
- Husband, 80, had above‑knee amputation; couple applied for CONAVA disability parking permit.
- Medical inspector visited once before discharge but has not returned; home visit needed to submit file.
- CONAVA told them full approval could take up to a year; no temporary permit issued despite mobility needs.
- Delays force risky parking and complicate transport to rehabilitation and medical appointments.
A retired couple living in La Massana say they have been stuck for months trying to obtain a disability parking permit from CONAVA so the husband, an 80‑year‑old man who had a leg amputated above the knee, can park in an accessible space.
They say hospital staff told them on discharge to register as applicants for the permit and that a medical inspector would visit their home to verify the disability. The wife says the inspector has not returned: “They came to the house before my husband was discharged and gave me some ideas for adapting the home, but nothing else. I had already made the adaptations. They said the home visit would take a month because of a waiting list. More than three months have passed and no one has come.”
The couple say they have the application form and the medical report but cannot submit the file until the home visit is completed. They were told that after the visit it would still take another six months to receive authorization. “We were told it could take a year in total,” the husband says. “What kind of procedure is this?” the wife adds. “Why does someone have to come again to see that I have an amputated leg?”
The delay affects the husband’s medical appointments. The wife describes difficulties parking when she needs to drive him to rehabilitation: using a regular space leaves no room to transfer him into a wheelchair; parking tail‑in requires moving the car and can block other drivers. She says hospital drop‑offs and the nearby SAAS car park are sometimes used instead, but the route involves a steep section she considers “extremely dangerous” for wheelchair users and the person pushing the chair. She also says many marked accessible spaces at the SAAS lot appear unused.
The couple asked CONAVA for at least a temporary permit to park in accessible spaces while the authorization process continues. They say a friend called CONAVA on their behalf to try to speed things up but was told there is a long waiting list; three weeks passed without a follow‑up. They are reluctant to file a formal complaint because they fear it would further delay the process.
They describe the ongoing process as bureaucratic and exhausting and say it is making daily life and transport to necessary medical care much harder.
Original Sources
This article was aggregated from the following Catalan-language sources: