The Diplomat
The Government will allocate 499,000 euros to subsidize care institutions that provide help to Spaniards in need abroad, mostly nursing homes run by religious personnel in Latin America.
According to the extract of the call for subsidies corresponding to the financial year 2023, signed on April 19 by the general director of Spaniards Abroad and Consular Affairs, Xavier Martí Martí (representing the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares), and published on April 23 by the Official State Gazette (BOE), the purpose of the subsidies is the granting of financial aid to assistance institutions domiciled abroad that, on their own initiative, provide free or semi-free help to Spanish citizens abroad, in a state of need and lacking their own resources, in order to stimulate, compensate and complement the assistance actions of said institutions.
The financial aid granted to these entities will be allocated to expenses for social, health or similar assistance to the Spanish beneficiaries and, exceptionally, to expenses for ordinary maintenance of the facilities that host them, and for repair or replacement of essential elements for their assistance made during the year in which the subsidies are awarded.
The maximum total amount will be 499,000 euros and the individual amount of each subsidy may not exceed 40,000 euros. Likewise, the sum of the amounts of all subsidies granted to welfare institutions operating in the same country may not exceed 250,000 euros. The amounts allocated to these subsidies have remained constant since 2009, just before the outbreak of the financial crisis, when they exceeded one million euros. In general, the biggest beneficiaries tend to be nursing homes run by religious personnel in Latin America.
The actions in favor of emigrants aim to guarantee a minimum of protection to Spanish citizens abroad in situations of need. These actions seek to ensure their economic, health and socio-labor rights, support their integration and, where appropriate, their return to Spain.
The Register of Spaniards Resident Abroad (PERE) consisted of more than 2.5 million people registered in 2021, of which around 21,300 were beneficiaries of some type of aid worth almost 52 million euros. Of this amount, 29.6 million euros were distributed as benefits due to need among more than 11,000 people, of which 74% resided in Venezuela and Argentina. Another seven million euros were allocated to old-age care pensions for returning Spaniards of origin and 6.7 million were for health care benefits.
Last September, the plenary session of the Court of Auditors approved the report on the management of pensions, benefits and aid to Spanish emigrants residing abroad, which found a series of deficiencies due, above all, to the fact that the Directorate General Migration does not have adequate computer systems to manage these payments.
Death penalty
On the other hand, the BOE has published the extract of the Order of April 19, 2024, which calls for the granting of subsidies for legal assistance to Spanish citizens facing death penalty sentences for the year 2024. The total amount maximum will be 30,000 euros.
The natural person of Spanish nationality who faces the death penalty and other natural persons, Spanish or foreign, or non-profit entities, domiciled in Spain or abroad, may be beneficiaries of this aid. The purpose of the subsidies is the granting of financial aid intended to contribute to the legal defense of Spanish citizens undergoing trial abroad accused of crimes that in the applicable law can be punished with the death penalty. These subsidies may also be used in the processes of review or repetition of trials, appeals against convictions or requests for pardon or commutation of sentences in favor of those who have already been sentenced to the death penalty.
