Vox forces Andalusia to scrap housing aid for migrant NGOs
The regional government of Andalusia will not renew the programme that gave temporary shelter to 315 homeless people in flats run by Cruz Roja, Fundación SAMU and Inserta. It expires on 20 December.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
The government of Juanma Moreno will not extend the Programme for the Social and Employment Integration of Homeless People, worth 6.4 million euros and co-financed with European funds, which provided temporary accommodation to 315 people across Andalusia's eight provinces. The Ministry of Social Services denies that the decision is linked to the pact with Vox and cites a lack of budget funds.
The Programme for the Social and Employment Integration of Homeless People in Andalusia ran for two years, from 2023 to 2024, with several extensions approved by the Ministry of Social Services, Families and Equality. The last one came in July, already under the PP-Vox governing pact. But that chain of renewals has been cut: the ministry headed by **Loles López** has confirmed to the three organisations running the programme —**Cruz Roja**, the **Fundación SAMU** and **Inserta**— that there will be no extension and no new tender. The programme expires on **20 December**.
What is disappearing is not just paperwork. It is **315 places** spread across the eight provinces: **132** run by the Fundación SAMU, **90** by Cruz Roja and **93** by Inserta. Shelter flats for homeless people who, while in the programme, trinc a supervised social and employment pathway. The maximum stay was **18 months**, extendable in exceptional cases. No user has stayed less than nine months, and the average is close to a full year. When the ministry gave notice, around **200 people** were being housed, many of them in the middle of training or work placements.
## The timeline: signed in July, closed in December
The sequence matters. In July, just after the coalition agreement was signed, the ministry approved an extension of the programme. In autumn, it told the NGOs that the scheme would end. The result is that on **20 December**, on the eve of Christmas, anyone still in the flats will have to leave. All three organisations agree on the outcome: ending up on the street in the middle of winter.
The Ministry of Social Services denies having issued a direct order to cancel the programme and distances the decision from the pact with Vox. Its explanation is different: the programme is ending now, once results have been evaluated, and what comes next will be decided later. Sources at the Fundación SAMU add that what they were told at the meeting was a lack of budget funds and competing priorities. The programme was **85%** co-financed by European funds, with contributions from the state and the regional government.
## Who lived in those flats
The data from the three organisations paint a specific picture. **80%** of the users of the flats run by **Inserta** were migrants. At the Fundación SAMU, more than **60%**. At Cruz Roja, **45%**. In other words, a majority or highly significant share of the people served had a foreign background, according to figures provided by the organisations themselves.
The programme was not about providing indefinite shelter. Its purpose was temporary accommodation while the person trinc a supervised pathway towards finding work; at that point they were expected to leave the flat. The Fundación SAMU reported successful target-compliance figures after the first year: basic skills, access to training, job searching and a path to independence. Its occupancy rate was around **90%**, with flats in Seville (12 flats, 36 places), Córdoba (12), Huelva (8) and Cádiz (12).
The Fundación SAMU has activated a wind-down strategy so that its more than **100 users** do not end up back on the street on 1 December. Some, with savings from their work placements, will be able to stay in the flats paying for their place as tenants, no longer subsidised. Others, dealing with addiction or mental health problems, will be referred to other services. In some cases there are talks with the companies where they do their placements about employment contracts.
## The clause that frames it all
The PP-Vox pact includes so-called national priority, a term implying that certain benefits and public aid from the regional government must go first to Spanish citizens rather than to the migrant population. The agreement also provides for the reduction, up to elimination, of subsidies or aid that do not directly and verifiably contribute to improving the quality of life of Andalusians, with special attention to international development cooperation. Vox demanded a review and elimination of what it considers superfluous spending, including subsidies to trade unions, NGOs and development aid.
The regional government maintains that this programme does not fall within that package. The organisations are not so sure, but neither do they assert it as proven fact: what exists is a timing coincidence between the signing of the pact and the decision not to renew. The ministry insists on the evaluation of results and the lack of funds. There is no public document establishing a causal link.
## How many homeless people are there in Andalusia
The scale of the problem helps measure what is being lost. The **Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos de Andalucía (APDHA)**, a human rights organisation, estimates in its **2025** report more than **8,000 homeless people** in the region, a **57%** increase over the last two years. The **Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE)**, Spain's statistics institute, works with a lower figure: around **5,539 people** living on the street, based on **2022** data, of whom more than **40%** had gone more than three years without stable housing in Andalusia.
In December 2023, coinciding with the arrival of European funds to fight homelessness, the regional government approved the First Strategy for Attention to Homeless People in Andalusia. Its goals were to improve access to income to cover basic needs, reduce inequality among homeless women, increase places in supported housing and improve the quality of life of people with complex needs. These are the same goals pursued by the programme now expiring. The strategy remains on paper; the programme that partly implemented it does not.
The decision affects one specific programme, not the entire care system. But it leaves **315 places** without funding and some **200 people** with an exit date in December. The organisations are looking for alternatives case by case. The ministry talks about evaluation. And the calendar moves towards **20 December**.
The Programme for the Social and Employment Integration of Homeless People in Andalusia ran for two years, from 2023 to 2024, with several extensions approved by the Ministry of Social Services, Families and Equality. The last one came in July, already under the PP-Vox governing pact. But that chain of renewals has been cut: the ministry headed by **Loles López** has confirmed to the three organisations running the programme —**Cruz Roja**, the **Fundación SAMU** and **Inserta**— that there will be no extension and no new tender. The programme expires on **20 December**.
What is disappearing is not just paperwork. It is **315 places** spread across the eight provinces: **132** run by the Fundación SAMU, **90** by Cruz Roja and **93** by Inserta. Shelter flats for homeless people who, while in the programme, trinc a supervised social and employment pathway. The maximum stay was **18 months**, extendable in exceptional cases. No user has stayed less than nine months, and the average is close to a full year. When the ministry gave notice, around **200 people** were being housed, many of them in the middle of training or work placements.
## The timeline: signed in July, closed in December
The sequence matters. In July, just after the coalition agreement was signed, the ministry approved an extension of the programme. In autumn, it told the NGOs that the scheme would end. The result is that on **20 December**, on the eve of Christmas, anyone still in the flats will have to leave. All three organisations agree on the outcome: ending up on the street in the middle of winter.
The Ministry of Social Services denies having issued a direct order to cancel the programme and distances the decision from the pact with Vox. Its explanation is different: the programme is ending now, once results have been evaluated, and what comes next will be decided later. Sources at the Fundación SAMU add that what they were told at the meeting was a lack of budget funds and competing priorities. The programme was **85%** co-financed by European funds, with contributions from the state and the regional government.
## Who lived in those flats
The data from the three organisations paint a specific picture. **80%** of the users of the flats run by **Inserta** were migrants. At the Fundación SAMU, more than **60%**. At Cruz Roja, **45%**. In other words, a majority or highly significant share of the people served had a foreign background, according to figures provided by the organisations themselves.
The programme was not about providing indefinite shelter. Its purpose was temporary accommodation while the person trinc a supervised pathway towards finding work; at that point they were expected to leave the flat. The Fundación SAMU reported successful target-compliance figures after the first year: basic skills, access to training, job searching and a path to independence. Its occupancy rate was around **90%**, with flats in Seville (12 flats, 36 places), Córdoba (12), Huelva (8) and Cádiz (12).
The Fundación SAMU has activated a wind-down strategy so that its more than **100 users** do not end up back on the street on 1 December. Some, with savings from their work placements, will be able to stay in the flats paying for their place as tenants, no longer subsidised. Others, dealing with addiction or mental health problems, will be referred to other services. In some cases there are talks with the companies where they do their placements about employment contracts.
## The clause that frames it all
The PP-Vox pact includes so-called national priority, a term implying that certain benefits and public aid from the regional government must go first to Spanish citizens rather than to the migrant population. The agreement also provides for the reduction, up to elimination, of subsidies or aid that do not directly and verifiably contribute to improving the quality of life of Andalusians, with special attention to international development cooperation. Vox demanded a review and elimination of what it considers superfluous spending, including subsidies to trade unions, NGOs and development aid.
The regional government maintains that this programme does not fall within that package. The organisations are not so sure, but neither do they assert it as proven fact: what exists is a timing coincidence between the signing of the pact and the decision not to renew. The ministry insists on the evaluation of results and the lack of funds. There is no public document establishing a causal link.
## How many homeless people are there in Andalusia
The scale of the problem helps measure what is being lost. The **Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos de Andalucía (APDHA)**, a human rights organisation, estimates in its **2025** report more than **8,000 homeless people** in the region, a **57%** increase over the last two years. The **Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE)**, Spain's statistics institute, works with a lower figure: around **5,539 people** living on the street, based on **2022** data, of whom more than **40%** had gone more than three years without stable housing in Andalusia.
In December 2023, coinciding with the arrival of European funds to fight homelessness, the regional government approved the First Strategy for Attention to Homeless People in Andalusia. Its goals were to improve access to income to cover basic needs, reduce inequality among homeless women, increase places in supported housing and improve the quality of life of people with complex needs. These are the same goals pursued by the programme now expiring. The strategy remains on paper; the programme that partly implemented it does not.
The decision affects one specific programme, not the entire care system. But it leaves **315 places** without funding and some **200 people** with an exit date in December. The organisations are looking for alternatives case by case. The ministry talks about evaluation. And the calendar moves towards **20 December**.
Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (2 replies).
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