The Federation of Associations for the Defense of Public Health (Fadsp) today presented the study that analyzes the amount dedicated to primary care (PC) in the different health budgets of the autonomous communities for this 2024, and the conclusions are not too flattering Marciano Sánchez Bayle, spokesperson for the entity and pediatrician, has stressed that this service is “insufficiently funded” and also has “intolerable delays.” Catalonia, he has remarked, “is at the head of the country in this section.” Especially worrying, he has pointed out, is the situation of the service in Madrid, which closes the table in the budget dedicated to the PA per inhabitant. It also occupies the lowest positions in the ranking of communities that dedicate the least resources to this service. Likewise, the Fadsp regrets the “limitations” of the study due to the “systematic lack of transparency” of the communities when providing official data.
Regarding the first variable (money dedicated to the PA per inhabitant), the figures range between 402 euros in Extremadura, which heads the ranking, and 150.9 in Madrid, which closes it. Catalonia, with 264.8 euros, is below the average (287.4 euros). Above are, in addition to Extremadura, Cantabria (346.6), the Canary Islands (329.6), Castilla y León (329.3), La Rioja (323.7), the Balearic Islands (314.1), Andalusia (312 .3), Basque Country (308.3) and Asturias (306.5).
The worst position is held by the Community of Madrid, with 150 euros, although they are 11.4 more than in 2023. It is followed by the Comunitat Valenciana, with 154 euros, Murcia (247.3), Navarra (262.6), Catalonia (264.8), Aragon (272) and Galicia (274).
Compared to a year before, the Canary Islands are the autonomy with the highest increase (75.5 euros), followed by Andalusia (65.8 euros) and the Balearic Islands, with 54.7 euros. On the contrary, the greatest decrease in the per capita budget occurs in Asturias, where it falls by 55 euros. The national average rises 7.2 euros, from 280.2 to 287.4.
If we focus on the percentage of the communities’ health budget allocated to PA, Extremadura once again tops the table with 18.58%, while the Comunitat Valenciana closes it with 9.23. Catalonia, with 16.80%, is above the average in this variable (15.02%). Madrid, for its part, registers 10.03%, occupying the penultimate position in this table.
Regarding this section, the Fadsp regrets the “small increase” that occurred between 2023 and 2024 (3 hundredths) compared to what occurred between 2021 and 2023. They also point out that all the percentages “are very far away.” ” of 25%, “which is desirable and the figure demanded by all organizations linked to the sector,” said Sánchez Bayle.
The community that increases the most in this section compared to 2023 is Andalusia, 3.09 points, just ahead of Extremadura, which grows 1.79 points. In this line of growth, and in the absence of data from Castilla-La Mancha, games for AP also grow in the Canary Islands (1.75 points), the Balearic Islands (1.5) and Murcia, 0.70. Three communities repeat their budget, having extended those from the previous year: Catalonia, Castilla y León and Navarra. In the rest they decrease although the comparison cannot be made in Aragon and the Basque Country, since they did not provide data in 2023.
The autonomy where the budget falls the most is Asturias (3.69 points), followed by La Rioja, with 1.58, Galicia and Madrid (0.7) and Cantabria, 0.28.
Sánchez Bayle has highlighted the worrying situation in Madrid, “where money is spent on show”, in reference to the Formula 1 sports project for 2026, while quality public services, such as the AP, “are systematically despised”.
In general terms, he has highlighted the “worrying” situation that the service presents in Spain, where the AP continues to be “the poor sister of the budgets,” he argued. Furthermore, he has reproached the regional administrations for the lack of transparency when providing data.
From the Fadsp they understand that improving the situation of the PC has to go through increasing the budget and health spending for this service until it reaches 25%; guarantee health care in a maximum of 48 hours and in person whenever requested by the population (according to the Health Barometer of October 2023, 27.2% of citizens received an appointment in 11 or more days); and significantly increase the resources of all professional categories.
