Spain care reform: friends can become official carers

Spain cuts the deadline for deciding whether someone needs care from six months to three: its care reform takes effect on Friday, 23 October 2026. Friends and neighbours can also be officially recognised as carers. Spain’s Congress approved the law on 16 September.

More ways to get care

Someone assessed as needing care can also qualify automatically for recognition as disabled. People will no longer have to choose between care payments and services under rules that previously made them incompatible. The law also provides for personal assistants and makes remote emergency assistance, known as telecare, a legal right.

Other changes reach beyond care services. Residents’ associations must apply for grants for work to make buildings accessible. Insurers cannot charge people with disabilities more.

The wait is not over

The Spanish government must cover 50% of care-system funding under the new law. An additional 6,200 million euros is earmarked for the autonomous communities between 2026 and 2027, but they must put much of the reform into practice themselves. The government also has up to a year to approve new criteria for assessing care needs.

Meanwhile, 236,736 people are waiting for care support, according to Spain’s Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and the 2030 Agenda. Of those, 134,734 have waited more than six months. Social rights minister Pablo Bustinduy wants the autonomous communities to clear the waiting lists by 2028.

Topics: Social affairs · Politics

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com