Catalan pensioners can now book Imserso trips.
One of the new features this year is a 50 euro fee for applicants with lower incomes.
BarcelonaA new travel season is underway for the Institute for Older Persons and Social Services (Imserso). Travel marketing began this Monday in Catalonia, where pensioners can start booking their trips starting at 9 a.m.
This year, Imserso is offering a total of 879,213 places. Many of these are coastal destinations on the peninsula (50.1% of places). The rest are divided between trips to the islands (25.9%) and cultural and nature destinations (23.9%).
The Institute sent letters to all pensioners who are accredited to participate in the program. In total, 4.3 million pensioners can book a trip. The letter includes a code that allows the holder to book online through the reservation center of the award-winning companies—Social Tourism (Ávoris) and the UTE Mundicolor—by also including their ID. If booking through travel agencies collaborating with the program, only their ID is required.
In addition to pensioners in Catalonia, pensioners in other autonomous communities such as Asturias, Castilla-La Mancha, the Valencian Community, La Rioja, Navarre, the Basque Country, Ceuta, and the Balearic and Canary Islands were also able to begin reserving places this Monday. Starting Wednesday, pensioners in the remaining regions will be able to book: Andalusia, Aragon, Cantabria, Castilla y León, Extremadura, Galicia, Madrid, Melilla, and Murcia.
Regarding the number of seats, each province is assigned a number of trips available to each destination in proportion to the number of people over 65 years of age residing and registered in each province. During the first days of marketing (from October 6 to 10), applicants can only book the trips assigned by province. Subsequently, starting October 11, the possibility of booking trips that have not been marketed from any province will be opened.
50 euro rate and pets
Among the new features of this edition, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs has introduced changes such as the creation of a flat rate for travel of 50 euros for those with the lowest pensions, regardless of the destination. With a total of 7,447 places, it will be reserved for people with financial resources equal to or less than the amount of their non-contributory retirement or disability pensions from Social Security.
In addition, for the first time, passengers will be able to travel with pets on coastal trips, both within the Peninsula and to the islands. A pet is defined as one that does not exceed 10 kilograms in weight, including the transport cage.
