Overview
- The Association of Directors and Managers in Social Services counts 25,060 deaths in the first nine months of 2025 among people awaiting assessment or the execution of approved support, roughly 93 per day.
- Backlog figures diverge by methodology: the association estimates just over 280,000 people waiting from initial application, while the Social Rights Ministry cites 174,406 by counting only those exceeding the six‑month legal deadline.
- Average time from application to receiving support has reached 349 days, with about eight months to determine eligibility and roughly three more to implement benefits, and the association projects roughly a decade to bring waits under the legal threshold at current pace.
- Territorial gaps are stark: 13 regions exceed the 180‑day limit, with Murcia at 563 days, Andalusia at 559 and the Canary Islands at 478, while only four communities meet the law, including Castilla y León and the Basque Country.
- Andalusia accounts for 5,292 of the deaths through September and, together with Catalonia, Valencia and the Canary Islands, represents about two‑thirds of the total, as Galicia reports shorter queues, 71 such deaths, and claims recent gains under a 2024 action plan while sector groups press Madrid to raise its funding share from about 27% to the 50% set in law.