A trainee firefighter has been accused of jumping the queue to qualify after failing a physical exam as a man and then saying he changed gender to ‘take advantage of the lower pass marks’ that require female candidates.
The candidate, known as David, initially failed to pass the exam as a man because he did not score a passing grade.
But shortly after receiving the news, the firefighter then reportedly announced that he would be changing his gender.
According to the rules in Spain, a woman can qualify by achieving a lower score on the physical tests due to the strength differences between the sexes.
It comes as Spain introduced its Trans law last year, which allows anyone to legally change gender without medical evaluation or justification on psychological grounds.
The Times reported that another candidate, Raul Asenjo, was initially considered to become a firefighter.
Pictured: A firefighter tries to extinguish a forest fire in a pine forest in the village of Conil de la Frontera in southern Spain
However, when David moved from 201st to 101st on the candidate list, Mr Asenjo was bumped down and left off the list.
Now the newspaper reports that Mr Asenjo is considering taking legal action against the Madrid municipality, which is responsible for the recruitment.
Asenjo, 21, claims he missed out on the opportunity to become a firefighter when David said they changed genders.
In the photo: a firefighter tries to extinguish a forest fire next to the village of Tabara, near Zamora
Mr Asenjo said in a statement to Spanish media: ‘I was candidate 126, the last on the eligible list. However, I have been moved to position 127 and therefore out of the running as a result of the allegedly unfair and fraudulent use of the rules by one of the candidates who was moved from position 201 to 101.”
“This candidate has claimed his status as a woman for the sole purpose of benefiting from more flexible rules [for women] and thus they advance 100 people in the selection process.’
Mr Asenjo also claims that before his gender change, David was part of an anti-feminist misogynist group for men going their own way – a community that advocates men separating themselves from women and society.