The Government has authorized this Tuesday in the Council of Ministers, on the proposal of the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumption and Agenda 2030, to allocate 187,454 euros to Ceuta to finance the dependency system.

The total investment proposed by the Ministry directed by Pablo Bustinduy to transfer to autonomous communities and cities is 783,197,429 euros between the Autonomous Communities (with the exception of the Basque Country and Navarre for their special tax regimes) and Ceuta and Melilla for the financing of the System for Autonomy and Attention to Dependency (SAAD). The proposed figure has been authorized within the government and revalidates the historical record of 2023 and 2024 to finance the SAAD, increasing by up to 500 million plus the budget allocation that there was in 2021.

The approval of the agreed level has been accompanied by the approval in the second round of the disability and dependency reforms, which are now sent to Congress for processing. These reforms consolidate accessibility as a right for people with disabilities and ensure that they can work receiving a benefit and develop the new Article 49 of the Constitution. In addition, this bill, among other reforms, abolishes the regime of incompatibilities in dependency benefits and the two-year suspension of financial benefits for family care.

Record funding to strengthen dependence

The record funding at this agreed level has been maintained since 2023, when the last General State Budgets were approved, and consolidates the investment that the Government of Spain has made in recent years to strengthen dependency, after this level of protection was suppressed in the last decade (year 2012) within a budget cut that reduced the state funding of SAAD by 5 billion euros. It was 2021, when the Government of Spain recovered this level of funding by providing an amount of 283 million euros. Since then, state investment at the agreed level has begun a path of growth that has led it to almost triple the funds earmarked for this item today.

The distribution of the investment of the level agreed between the autonomous governments is carried out following the technical and demographic criteria that were established in the Shock Plan for the promotion of the SAAD and that were approved by the autonomous governments themselves in a Territorial Council held on January 15, 2021. This agreement established indicators that measure the efforts made by each regional executive to improve the quality of the Unit’s services, with differences in this performance determining that each regional government receives a different amount each year.

These criteria are grouped into four differentiated funds, which in 2025 mobilize the following amounts:

(a) Structural fund: 145.8 million euros. The evolution of the potentially dependent population, the cost of services, territorial area, population dispersion and insularity are observed.

(b) Management fund: 175 million euros. The management of each regional government is measured, following the number of people served, administrative agility or regional investment.

(c) Target Achievement Fund: €262.4 million: The evolution of the objectives approved in 2021 is assessed, such as the improvement in employment in the sector, the reduction of the waiting list or the quality of services and services.

(d) Fund on Common Criteria for Accreditation and Quality of SAAD Centres and Services: EUR 200 million: This fund is conditional on the investments made by the autonomous governments to reach the criteria of accreditation and quality in the centers and services of the SAAD.