Caritas Euskadi has warned that poverty is becoming chronic in the Basque Country, where the organization assisted 34,569 people in 2025, 70% of whom are immigrants. Although the figure has decreased, the realities being addressed require more "adjusted and closer" responses. "Social exclusion is becoming more complex, more intense, and prolonged in a territory like Euskadi, which maintains economic indicators better than the state average," warned Jaime Tapia, director of Caritas Euskadi.
Tapia added that "it is not enough to talk about macroeconomic recovery when precarious integration situations are growing in the microeconomy," in a denunciation aimed at institutions for greater involvement in necessary responses for the most vulnerable.
In Gipuzkoa, half of the 10,183 people assisted are women and 21% are under 18 years old. This figure has decreased, partly due to the reform of the RGI and the Minimum Vital Income. However, for one in four people assisted, poverty has been chronic for years, requiring not only one-off aid but also more comprehensive public policies with solutions for housing, administrative barriers, and difficulty accessing employment. Caritas allocates 10 million euros to help these individuals, with 75% from its own resources and only 25% from public funding.
The reality of young people on the streets is noteworthy. In the territory, over 1,300 people passed through Caritas last year, some in transit, without aid or resources, due to the proximity to the border, as highlighted by Fernando Prado, Bishop of San Sebastián. "There is a specific profile of migrant youth without resources and with greater social stigma."
In Álava, the 9,770 individuals assisted by Cáritas Vitoria mostly come from the Maghreb, Africa, Eastern Europe, and America. The issue of homelessness stands out, having grown exponentially in recent years in the city. "We increasingly see people living in cars, in abandoned premises; we see very complicated situations," stated Jesús Gutiérrez, general secretary of Cáritas Vitoria, who also referred to young people living in abandoned factories like URSSA, where police recently identified over a hundred. "They continue with processes at Caritas, in our training centers and workshops," but are hindered by this "undignified situation."
In Bizkaia, Cáritas Bilbao has assisted 11,607 people, 54% women, through 248 social projects. Almost half, over 4,500, approached the entity for the first time in 2025, a figure that highlights the constant emergence of vulnerability situations. Another relevant statistic is the number of minors, nearly 2,000, and young people (18-29 years old), 2,100, who continue to be assisted by Cáritas.
Housing is the main factor of social exclusion, the biggest obstacle to developing an autonomous and stable life project, as explained by Elena Unzueta, director of Cáritas in Bizkaia. "Housing is the epicenter of social problems."
At the Vitoria presentation, Bishop Juan Carlos Elizalde referred to the Pope's visit to Spain this week: "The arrival of Leo XIV can become a renewed impulse for all of society, an invitation to recover hope, strengthen community ties, and commit to coexistence based on justice, welcome, and fraternity. Love for the poor is the heart of the Church's mission."
