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Catalonia will receive a record injection of €400 million, from the Next Generation EU European funds, to promote more than 750 social projects and improve the quality of life of the most vulnerable groups, such as the elderly, children and young people, people with disabilities or mental illness and homelessness. According to the Government, this budget item will allow infrastructure and projects in the field of social protection to be compared with those of the most advanced European countries. For the president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès i Garcia, it is “the largest social investment in the history of Catalonia. There has never been such a large and diverse investment program, and for so many groups at the same time”, he stressed.
Investment in social policies has six lines of action:
1. New social care facilities and remodeling of existing ones
2. New technologies at the service of people care
3. Technology as a transformative element of social services
4. Innovation in social services
5. Modernization of infrastructure, digitalization and improvement of residential spaces for child care or for educational leisure
6. Catalonia, an accessible country
The bulk of the social investment, a total of €208.4 million, will be allocated to social infrastructure, which will allow the construction of more than 40 new facilities and 111 expansions or remodeling of residential and day centers for the elderly, people with disabilities or mental illness and centers for the protection of homeless people.
In this area, an investment of €33 million stands out for the construction of three new residences and day centers for the elderly, owned by the Generalitat, in Sabadell, Terrassa and Barcelona. “It has been a decade since the Government has invested in the construction of residences and day centers for the elderly,” says the Minister of Social Rights, Carles Campuzano.
Furthermore, within the framework of the agreement with Barcelona City Council, the construction of the Ramon Turró night and day emergency shelter and the construction of a coexistence unit for seniors in the development of the old Quirón are financed.
In the area of ??people with disabilities, Drets Socials will invest €5.5 million in a new care model at the Can Serra residence in l’Hospitalet, and €4.8 million for the Joan XXIII residence in Cerdanyola del Vallès. Another outstanding action is the rehabilitation of Vapor Cortès, in Terrassa, which will serve to enable the Prodis Foundation to implement a new community model of day care.
To promote personal autonomy and delay institutionalization for as long as possible, the Government also finances 180 technological projects at the service of people’s care. One of the most notable is the ARI robotic assistant. Within the framework of an agreement with Barcelona City Council, the Government has invested €5.4 million in the acquisition of 1,000 units of robotic assistants to accompany older people who live alone.
Another of the subsidized projects is the E-Cuida platform, a comprehensive service from the Pere Tarrés Foundation to improve the quality of life of the caregiver.
39 technological projects will see the light of day in the coming years thanks to the investment of nearly €40 million from the European fund. One of these projects is SimbiòTIC, promoted by the Taula del Tercer Sector in collaboration with the SinèrgiaTIC association, and will serve to accompany more than eighty social entities in data management and improving care for people.
€39 M will also be invested from the Next Generation EU fund to promote 120 social innovation pilot projects in the field of social services. For example, the PLATEA project will be subsidized, for young people aged 18 to 30 with mental health problems, and also the Edunauta Passport project, of the Bofill Foundation, aimed at children aged 3 to 12 in vulnerable situations in terms of learning opportunities.
The Generalitat also allocates €39 million to infrastructure for children and young people. They will be used to build seven integrated Barnahus units, to care for children and adolescents victims of sexual abuse, in Tortosa, Lleida, la Seu d’Urgell, Mataró, Terrassa and Manresa.
These new facilities will be added to the Barnahus in Tarragona, already in operation and built with Next Generation EU funds.
The Government will also promote, among others, the works in the ancient city of rest of Tarragona, which will become the most modern and sustainable youth hostel in the country.
86 municipalities and a regional council will receive subsidies for projects to improve accessibility in citizen service spaces, both physical and telematic, which will allow 184 interventions throughout Catalonia. More information on the Drets Socials portal