The Director General of Social Affairs, José Falcó, regrets the lack of specifics from the Ministry of Social Affairs.
The Director General of Social Affairs, José Falcó, attended the Territorial Council of Social Affairs where the implementation of the State ESF+ programme for basic material assistance (BASIC), known as the food card, which should have begun to be distributed to operate until December 2024 under the management of the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumption and Agenda 2030 and the Red Cross, to be transferred to the autonomous communities from 2025 onwards, was discussed.
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Food cards
In the framework of this meeting, Falcó regretted that “once again the doubts have not been clarified” and has called for a “road map” that makes the implementation protocol clear and provides legal certainty to the autonomous communities when it comes to justifying the funds allocated to this programme.
Similarly, Falcó regretted that “not a single food card” has yet been distributed throughout Spain, a fact which, according to the director general, “could compromise the economic justification before Europe”.
It should be remembered that the Regional Ministry of Families and Social Affairs has already stated on numerous occasions that “even though the programme could be positive”, in Falcó’s words, “its application is being tremendously chaotic, forcing the communities to make enormous efforts to cover all the family units that will be left without access to this benefit”.
Last November, the Conselleria already planned a call for extraordinary aid of 1.6 million euros for the purchase of food, aimed at both distribution entities and social canteens. This call for applications aimed to reach people who until now received aid for the purchase of food but who will no longer receive it because, for example, they do not have children in their care, an extreme that the Regional Minister for Families and Social Affairs, Catalina Cirer, denounced, given that the system left out important groups in a situation of vulnerability, such as the elderly or people with disabilities.