2,200 million more: this is how Spanish government dependency aid stands

Barcelona / Madrid2.218 million extra euros is the amount that the Council of Ministers approved this Tuesday to strengthen the dependency system, one of the pillars of the welfare state, but highly criticized for the slowness and scarcity of resources 20 years after the approval of the law that was already born underfunded. "Today is a historic day," proclaimed the Minister of Social Rights, Pablo Bustinduy, who was in charge of presenting the economic "effort" of the Spanish government to improve the fourth pillar of the welfare state. "We must transform our care system," he said, "we want to move towards guaranteeing a public service that responds to the needs of citizens, both from the perspective of those who receive it and those who provide it".

With this increase, part of a structural reform of the system, the Spanish government intends to expand the amounts it transfers to regional governments, which should allow for doubling the aid received by citizens with a higher level of coverage. With this extra contribution, the amount that the Spanish government allocates to dependency will reach 7,200 million by 2027, which will allow the contribution to reach 50% and thus fulfill the executive's commitment for this legislature. In fact, the 2006 law already indicated that the State and the communities had to share the costs of services and benefits, but unlike health and education, beneficiaries of dependency have to pay a part.

With the extra investment, it quadruples the money that the Spanish government allocates to dependency since Sánchez arrived at Moncloa. It was the president himself who announced the new investment first thing in the morning, "in order to take better care of those who need it most." In an event with the Minister of Social Rights, Sánchez took the opportunity to boast about the government's work, at a particularly delicate moment for the executive after the ruling in the Ábalos case. "This government took on the task of rebuilding and strengthening a system that for years was practically dismantled by the austerity policies of the PP. Between 2012 and 2020, the State's contribution remained stagnant at historic lows. Since then, we have tripled state investment in dependency and have gone from just over 1.3 billion to almost 3.8 billion by 2025," said Sánchez, who added that, with the new contribution, "one of the most important transformations of the system since its creation will be completed."

decreasing, from 32% in 2008 to 16.5% in 2021Immediate application

Bustinduy insisted that the investment increase will be immediate, through a decree-law, once it is published in the BOE. A path that implies it must be validated in the Congress of Deputies within a month. In this regard, he expressed the desire for it to coincide with the vote on two more legal reforms related to dependency and disability: "It is the best legacy that can be left in social terms. It is the best progress we can make in social matters," said the minister, who aspired to be able to approve everything unanimously.

Thus, from July 1, the communities will receive this larger economic allocation to continue reducing waiting lists, hiring more staff, improving their conditions, offering more services, and expanding others such as home care, explained the Ministry of Social Rights. According to data from the Generalitat, the Spanish executive's contributions to Catalonia have been "decreasing, going from 32% in 2008 to 16.5% in 2021, that is, half, while the investment by the Government and the co-payment by beneficiaries has increased. Citizens recognized with a degree of dependency contribute up to 17%, almost triple what they did 15 years ago. Furthermore, with almost 81,000 people, Catalonia leads the waiting lists for care, accounting for 30% of the total in the State. Bustinduy's intention now is to reach 50% of the contribution.

Precisely, the Government has begun to implement a shock plan, the Cura Plan, in which it commits to paying dependency benefits within 60 days. The Community of Madrid did not receive the Spanish government's announcement well and called the investment a "mockery" considering the accumulated debt. The response from the Minister of Social Rights was forceful: he recalled that Mariano Rajoy's government left the State's contribution at 16.5% and that now it will reach half of the financing for service costs. "I am sure they are happy in private," he concluded.