The Government of Spain distributes 142.5 million euros to the regional governments to reduce the gender gap in the area of care

Moncloa Palace, Madrid

The Minister for Equality, Ana Redondo, together with the Minister for Education, Vocational Training and Sports, Pilar Alegría, explain the agreements adopted by the Executive (Pool Moncloa /Borja Puig de la Bellacasa)

The Council of Ministers has authorised the distribution of 142.5 million euros to the regional governments, except Navarre and the Basque Country, and to the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, in order to develop the Co-Responsibilities Plan in 2025. The distribution of the amounts will be determined at the Sectoral Conference on Equality to be held on 23 May.

The Co-Responsibilities Plan was launched in 2021 to build a public network of services and care initially aimed at children under the age of 14 and subsequently at children under the age of 16, in order to support the work-life balance of families. It is part of the European Care Strategy and is a step towards the consolidation of public policies that address care as a right.

The Minister for Equality, Ana Redondo, stressed that the revision of the plan aims to "reduce the gender gap in care", as women take on 80% more care roles than men. Furthermore, she stressed that the measure aims to transform society from work-life balance to true social co-responsibility.

In this regard, the minister referred to the progress made in terms of work-life balance related to paternity and maternity leave, the Dependency Law, the 0 to 3 years education line, which has an impact on work-life balance, and the Parity Law. In her opinion, it will be very difficult to make progress in terms of parity and ensure that women reach positions of responsibility if the care gap, which currently falls mainly on women, is not reduced.

What's new in the Co-Responsibilities Plan?

The Minister for Equality, Ana Redondo, during the press conference after the Council of Ministers | Pool Moncloa /Borja Puig de la Bellacasa

The revision of the Co-Responsibilities Plan acts on co-governance. In this area, the General State Administration will assume 75% of the financing, with 142.5 million euros, and the remaining 25% will be provided by the regional governments. Furthermore, the minister said that her department will be directly involved in ensuring that the plan moves from work-life balance to co-responsibility.

Ana Redondo added that her ministry has made an enormous effort in terms of transparency by incorporating a digital tool called 'HUB Corresponsables', which will allow each of the projects and their expenses to be monitored. A technical team has also been created to help the regional governments in the change of model that the Government is promoting with this renewed plan.

The new edition of the Plan also incorporates new developments in the social transformation pillar. "The challenge is to transform a society in which care is understood as a burden into a society that understands it as an indispensable element for the development of the personality of any human being," said the Minister for Equality. To combat prejudice and stereotypes, training and social awareness-raising initiatives will be implemented.

Ana Redondo also stressed the importance of the specific professionalisation of care for children under the age of 16. Along these lines, her department has worked with the Ministry of Education to create a line of professionals for this type of care within vocational training.

Criteria for the distribution and regulation of non-compliance

The Minister for Equality, Ana Redondo, during the press conference after the Council of Ministers | Pool Moncloa /Borja Puig de la Bellacasa

The criteria for the distribution of funds are basically the same as in previous years. Some 60% is distributed according to population, 15% according to territorial dispersion and 13.5% taking into account the size of the territory. In addition, the criterion of a large city has a specific value of 8% of the resources, insularity 2% and border city 1.5%.

For the first time, the Plan regulates cases of non-compliance, e.g. when the funds distributed do not reach the objectives set or when an administration does not assume the co-financing due to it. The most likely consequence, as Ana Redondo explained, will be the withdrawal of the resources provided by the Ministry, which will be allocated to others. If an administration does not spend the funds, the part not spent will be subtracted in the following years. "It is an incentive to collaborate and co-govern better and an incentive to promote those transformations that are essential," concluded the Minister for Equality.

Investment of 311 million euros in education

The Minister for Education, Vocational Training and Sports and Government Spokesperson, Pilar Alegría, during her speech at the press conference after the Council of Ministers | Pool Moncloa /Borja Puig de la Bellacasa

The Minister for Education, Vocational Training and Sports and Government Spokesperson, Pilar Alegría, reported on the approval of a distribution of 311.4 million euros to the regional governments for education. This allocation will promote the development of four territorial cooperation programmes aimed at improving maths and reading skills, promoting inclusive education and reducing the early dropout rate by supporting students with more difficulties.

Alegría detailed the amounts that will be allocated to each of these four projects, which are developed in the stages of Infant, Primary, Secondary and Baccalaureate: 106 million euros for the PROA+ programme, which caters for students with difficulties; 56 million euros for the programme to reinforce reading comprehension; 120 million euros for the programme to improve maths skills; and, finally, 29 million euros for the inclusive education programme, aimed at students who have special educational needs because they suffer from some kind of disability or serious behavioural disorder.

In relation to the first of the programmes, PROA+, Alegría recalled that the Government recovered it in 2018 and assured that it has contributed to improving the early school dropout rate: "In 2024, Spain had a percentage of 13%, the lowest in the entire historical series, reducing by 0.7% from 2023," explained the minister, who pointed out that the percentage in 2014 was 21.9% and the current goal of all European countries is to reach 9% by 2030.

New call for applications for the SERÉ Scholarships

The Government spokesperson also referred to the approval of the call for applications for 2025 for the SERÉ Scholarships, an initiative of the Ministry of the Presidency, Justice and Parliamentary Relations to guarantee equal opportunities in access to the highest levels of the Justice Administration.

As she explained, the 2025 call for applications for these scholarships aimed at candidates to the judicial and prosecutorial career, as well as the bodies of lawyers of the Administration of Justice and State lawyers, will have an investment of 15.6 million euros, which will allow scholarships to be awarded to some 1,300 people for a maximum of four years. The minister highlighted the increase in the allocation of these scholarships: since their first edition in 2022, the total investment has increased from 1.6 to 15.6 million euros, thus increasing the financial aid per scholarship from 6,600 to 12,000 euros and the number of scholarships awarded from 245 to 1,300.

The aim of the SERÉ Scholarships is to guarantee that access is not conditioned by the economic situation of the applicants, but based exclusively on merit, vocation and ability, as established in the Constitution. The Draft Law on Measures to Strengthen the Judicial and Public Prosecutor's Careers, currently being processed in the Spanish Parliament, contemplates the legal protection of these scholarships, ensuring their continuity and establishing the minimum amount as the Minimum Salary.

Champions League final in Madrid and other topical issues

The Minister for Equality, Ana Redondo, along with the Minister for Education, Vocational Training and Sports and Government Spokesperson, Pilar Alegría, address the press after the Council of Ministers | Pool Moncloa /Borja Puig de la Bellacasa

The Minister for Sport also reported that the Council of Ministers had approved the necessary guarantees to allow the 2027 Men's UEFA Champions League final to be held at Atlético de Madrid's Metropolitano Stadium. Pilar Alegría recalled that Spain has already held several sporting events of similar magnitude, including the Europa League final in Seville in 2022 and the Women's Champions League final in Bilbao in 2024.

Finally, during her speech at the press conference, the Government spokesperson positively assessed the latest economic forecasts of the European Commission, which has revised the growth forecast for Spain in 2025 upwards and has predicted a level of unemployment below 10% in 2026, something which, as Alegría pointed out, has not occurred since 2007. "This data confirms the dynamism and the good performance of our country's economy. It comes in a context of international uncertainty and, nevertheless, clearly demonstrates that Spain is working and moving forwards," she concluded.

Non official translation