Judgment concerning Spain
In the case of Ferrero Quintana v. Spain the Court held that there had been no violation of the general prohibition of discrimination.
The case concerned the imposition of a maximum age of 35 for a public competition to fill several police-officer positions in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country (Ertzaintza). The applicant, who had been provisionally authorised to take part in the various competition tests – where he ranked 49th out of 60 – was ultimately not recruited on the grounds that he was over the age-limit.
The Court found that it was established that restricting admission to positions for police officers of the lowest rank in the Ertzaintza by establishing a maximum age of 35, at the relevant time, had been necessary to ensure and maintain the functional capacity of that autonomous police force.