The EIB and the ICF sign a €50M loan to create 7,500 care places

BarcelonaThe European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Catalan Finance Institute (ICF) signed a €50 million loan agreement this Friday that will allow for the creation of approximately 7,500 care placements for elderly people and people with disabilities in Catalonia. The EIB loan, which will be channeled through the Catalan government's public development bank, will specifically finance the construction, purchase, and renovation of residences, day centers, and assisted living facilities for the most vulnerable groups. This is the second and final tranche of a total €150 million loan from the EIB, the EU's financial arm, intended to boost investment in social infrastructure. The first tranche, of €100 million, was signed in May 2025. The signing of the agreement for this final €50 million took place in Barcelona at an event attended by the President of the EIB Group, Nadia Calviño; The Minister of Economy and Finance, Alícia Romero, and the Minister of Social Rights and Inclusion, Mònica Martínez Bravo, among others.

€2.2 billion in Catalonia

In her speech, Calviño emphasized that investing in social infrastructure "is the right and smart thing to do" because it ultimately becomes "an investment in ourselves with returns in the future and in the present." She recalled that in 2025, the EIB provided €2.2 billion to Catalonia, of which one in four euros went to boosting social infrastructure, including housing. "And we are moving forward with new financing for social housing, which I hope to consolidate in the coming months, and for which Barcelona will likely be the main client in all of Spain," she said. For her part, Alícia Romero highlighted the EIB's collaboration with Catalonia over the last 30 years and the more than one billion euros in financing allocated since 2020 to strategic projects, both in the social sector and for SMEs. Minister Martínez Bravo thanked Calviño for her presence, calling her "a role model for effective policy and the most progressive vision of the economy." The agreement with the EIB will enable the ICF to finance non-profit social organizations, foundations, local authorities, and public and private companies to launch social infrastructure investments and projects. This will be facilitated through the so-called ICF Equipaments Socials loans, a product that will also benefit from a 2% interest rate subsidy provided by the Department of Social Rights and Inclusion, through the creation of a specific social fund of €15 million.