IMSERSO trips for people with disabilities: association breaks and the programme for older people

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IMSERSO trips for people with disabilities: the breaks run by organisations such as COCEMFE, how to apply, and when the programme for older people works for you.

IMSERSO trips for people with disabilities are not bought through a travel agency. They are holiday and spa breaks subsidised by IMSERSO and run by non-profit organisations, such as COCEMFE, and you apply for a place with the organisation itself.

The ones everybody knows, those sold by Turismo Social and Mundicolor, are a different programme, for pensioners who manage without help in their daily lives. That programme does not provide support and does not guarantee an accessible room.

IMSERSO trips for people with disabilities: the association breaks

IMSERSO gives grants to national non-profit organisations so that they can run tourism and thermal spa breaks for people with disabilities. The 2026 call was published in the BOE (Spain's official state gazette) on 27 May. IMSERSO does not sell these places. Each organisation prepares its own breaks, and you sign up with it, not with a travel agency.

The rules are set by the call and are the same for all organisations:

It is for people with a recognised disability of 33% or more who are 16 or over.
You do not need to belong to the organisation: the breaks are open to everyone, “whether or not they belong to an organisation or centre”.
You can go with a person who accompanies you and helps you with activities of daily living, if you need it. They pay the same fee as you. In the programme for older people, by contrast, the person who accompanies you also has to manage without help.
Each break has an activity leader who coordinates it.
Priority goes to “greater disability and level of dependency” and to financial need. There are discounts for large families and for low incomes.
The breaks last from 3 to 12 days.
Each person can have only one subsidised break per call, counting all organisations together.

COCEMFE is one of these organisations, and the one that brings together people with physical and organic disabilities. Other organisations for people with disabilities also run breaks: each one explains how to apply for its places.

The COCEMFE holiday programme

COCEMFE, the Spanish Confederation of People with Physical and Organic Disabilities, runs its Inclusive Tourism Programme, funded by IMSERSO and the Fundación ONCE. In 2026 it had 36 breaks, from March to October, and they have now finished. Its 2026 general conditions say the following:

It is for people over 16 with a physical or organic disability of 33% or more. Priority goes to those with a disability of 50% or more and lower incomes.
It includes a shared double room, full board, insurance, activity leaders and “adapted transport”. Almost all the breaks leave from Madrid.
If you need support with basic activities of daily living, you can go, but “it will be essential to attend with an accompanying person”. The activity leaders are not personal assistants.
The hotel is “adapted in accordance with current regulations”, but “the allocation of accessible rooms to people who do not use a wheelchair is not guaranteed”. If you walk with difficulty and do not use a wheelchair, you may not get one.
The price depends on the break and is the same for you and for the person who accompanies you. COCEMFE publishes it with each break.
The application is sent by email to turismoinclusivo@cocemfe.es, at least 45 days before departure.

If you have already taken a trip this year under the programme for older people, ask COCEMFE whether it counts as a subsidised break. COCEMFE announces its programme at the start of the year on its holiday programme page: check the 2027 dates there.

The IMSERSO programme for older people: if you are a pensioner and manage on your own

The best-known IMSERSO trips are those of the Tourism Programme, which the BOE calls “for older people”. They are sold by Turismo Social, by Mundicolor and by authorised travel agencies. If you are a pensioner and manage on your own, you can take these IMSERSO trips even if you have a disability. The programme does not provide support, and an accessible room is not guaranteed.

Who can go

In the 2026-2027 season there are 879,213 places, according to the BOE resolution of 13 June. The breaks run, roughly, from October 2026 to June 2027 and last from 4 to 10 days. The mainland coast means Andalusia, Catalonia, the Region of Murcia and the Valencian Community; the islands are the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands.

People who live in Spain and are any of the following can apply for a place:

retirement pensioners of the Spanish Social Security;
widow's or widower's pensioners aged 55 or over;
pensioners receiving other types of pension, or in receipt of unemployment benefit or allowance, aged 60 or over;
people insured with, or beneficiaries of, the Spanish Social Security aged 65 or over.

A recognised disability of 33% or more gives 10 points, but only to the person applying for the place. You tick it on the application, with a copy of the certificate.

If you need help in your daily life

The call sets another condition: travellers and their companions, except children, “must be able to manage by themselves to carry out basic activities of daily living”. This is shown with a self-declaration.

If you need another person to help you shower or transfer from your chair to the bed, this programme is not for you. Nor does it provide personal assistance. Your route is the organisations' breaks.

Your spouse or partner can go with you even if they are not the right age or a pensioner, but they also have to manage without help.

A son or daughter with a disability of 45% or more can travel with their parents even if they need help in daily life. They have to share a room with their parents or pay the single supplement, if places are available.

When to book and whether places are left

Applications for this season were submitted from 22 June to 10 July 2026 and are now closed. If you already had accreditation from other seasons, you did not need to apply again.

Sales began on 14 September, staggered by autonomous community, and stay open all season. Places keep becoming available because, in IMSERSO's words, “cancellations, changes and withdrawals constantly generate new availability”.

You book with your DNI and your accreditation key on the Turismo Social website (mainland coast and short breaks) or on the Mundicolor website (Canary Islands and Balearic Islands). The IMSERSO letter gives four digits for booking, different each season. At an authorised travel agency, the DNI is enough.

When you book you pay at most 20% of the price, and the rest 45 days before departure. For the October and November breaks, if there are fewer than 45 days to go, you pay everything when you book.

What is included and how much it costs in 2026-2027

These are the prices per person that IMSERSO forecasts, with the high-season price in brackets. High season is October, May and June, except in the Canary Islands, where it runs from December to February.

Mainland coast with transport, 10 days: €309.22 (€409.22)
Mainland coast with transport, 8 days: €244.04 (€344.04)
Balearic Islands with transport, 10 days: €353.37 (€453.37)
Canary Islands with transport, 10 days: €464.72 (€564.72)
Cultural tour, 6 days: €312.51 (€412.51)
Nature tourism, 5 days: €305.75 (€405.75)
Provincial capitals, 4 days: €132.91 (€232.91)

The price includes the hotel on a full-board basis, in a shared double room, and a group insurance policy. In the provincial capitals it is half board and does not include transport.

On the other trips, transport is a return journey from the provincial capital where you live, except on those sold without it. On the coast there is also general medical care at the hotel and social and cultural entertainment.

A single room carries a supplement per night, if available: €22 on the mainland coast and in the Balearic Islands, €24 in the Canary Islands and €26 on the short breaks. From the second trip of the season, each one costs €100 more. There are 7,447 places at €50 for people whose income is equal to or below the non-contributory pension and who have more points.

The accessible room: what the programme says and what it does not

The call only mentions accessibility to say that the hotels have “accessible common areas”. It does not mention accessible rooms, wheelchairs, accessible transport or personal assistance.

The Turismo Social conditions, for the mainland coast and short breaks, are more specific:

Anyone who needs an accessible room “must request it before making the booking”. It is “subject to the availability of the establishment” and to Turismo Social authorising it by email before the trip.
When booking on its website, under “Services subject to availability”, you tick the accessible room, the wheelchair or the assistance in transport. Turismo Social has to confirm them before the trip.
Whatever you need, you have to communicate it, and the organiser has to accept it in writing, before booking.

We have not found what Mundicolor, which sells the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands, says in its conditions about the accessible room.

What to ask before booking if you use a wheelchair

If you use a wheelchair or walk with difficulty, put these questions to whoever is selling you the trip. And ask for the answers in writing.

How many accessible rooms does the hotel have, and when will you confirm mine?
What is the bathroom in that room like: level-access shower or bath, grab rails? Will you send me photos and measurements?
Does the coach have a ramp or lift platform for boarding with the wheelchair?
If I fly, who requests the assistance at the airport? What does the “assistance in transport” that you tick when booking include?
Are the excursions accessible, or do they have steps and stretches on foot?
If the accessible room is not there when I arrive, what happens? Will you find me another, move me to another hotel or refund my money?
If I go to the Canary Islands or the Balearic Islands, how does Mundicolor request and confirm the accessible room?

The sensible thing is to have the accessible room confirmed in writing before paying the rest, which falls due 45 days before departure. If the date is approaching and the confirmation has not arrived, ask what happens to your money if there turns out to be no room. For the October and November breaks that leave in under 45 days you pay everything when you book: that question comes first.

When an accessible trip from start to finish suits you better

The trips in the programme for older people are all within Spain. At Travel Xperience we organise international trips for people with a physical disability or reduced mobility, from start to finish: flights and assistance, accommodation, transfers, visits and 24-hour support. It may suit you better in four cases:

You want to travel outside Spain, on a tailor-made trip or a small-group trip, which always goes with a member of our team.
You want to see your room before confirming. We check every accessible room before booking it and send you photos of the room and the bathroom. On a tailor-made trip, we also send its measurements (what to look for in an accessible room). We ask the hotel for written confirmation. If the room is not there when you arrive, we find another accessible one in the same hotel or in one of the same or better category.
You prefer that someone takes care of the journeys. Transfers are in an adapted vehicle chosen according to your wheelchair, with a ramp or tie-downs if needed, and we request the airport assistance ourselves.
You need help getting up, dressing or washing. You can travel with your companion or, depending on the destination, we arrange personal assistance with a local provider. The member of our team who goes with the groups is not a personal assistant, as we explain in the frequently asked questions.

It is not a subsidised trip. Being accessible does not make it more expensive: it costs the same as a tailor-made trip with an agency that specialises in personalised travel and private services.

If you are looking for a break at a subsidised price, start with COCEMFE or another organisation for people with disabilities. And if you are a pensioner and manage on your own, the programme for older people can also be your trip.

Travel Xperience. Data checked on 3 November 2026 in the sources below.