The Spanish Long-Term Care System in the European Context

Abstract

The recent exponential increase in the number of people in situations of dependency and demand for social, health and residential coverage in Europe currently presents a troubling demographic forecast. This article describes the peculiarities of the Spanish care model within the European context. In order to do this, we review previous analyses that show the differences in the dependency care in European countries, such as the form of residence of its beneficiaries or the capacity of social networks to meet their care needs. Then, we proceed to present the purposes underlying the Spanish legal framework, as well as its strengths and limitations. The findings suggest that the universal model implemented in Spain could serve as referent for the European context, although this depends on the social models of coexistence and prior context in which the dependency occurs.