The City Council increases aid to vulnerable families to one million euros

The Consistory maintains economic programs to cover the basic needs of neighbors such as the soup kitchen, the habitability fund, the emergency fund, family financial aid, aid to non-profit associations or animal protection.

The Delegation of Social Services and Social Integration manages about 1,500 applications during the past year between direct aid requests and issuance of certificates.

The City Council of Estepona takes a new leap in the attention to vulnerable families in the municipality, and raises the amount allocated to various aid programs to nearly one million euros. However, as has been the case in recent years, the amount of money for social emergency aid remains unlimited, ie, the amounts included in the budget can be expanded during the year depending on the needs that arise.

The Consistory has been active for years in various social assistance programs with direct aid. The municipal accounts for 2026 include an initial item of 965,561.49 euros, which includes, among other actions, aid to the soup kitchen (42,000), emergency aid (150,000), family economic (95,000), aid to non-profit associations (179,500), habitability fund (70,000), sports (148,000), compliance with animal welfare law (247,561.49), or aid to young artists (33,500).

The attention of the most vulnerable citizens continues to be a priority for the government team, so the municipal delegation of Social Welfare continues to offer different types of aid to families who require it, says the mayor, José María García Urbano, who recalls pioneering initiatives launched in the last 15 years as collaboration with the soup kitchen EMAÚS or the habitability fund. The latter, activated in 2017 to help neighbors with limited resources to adapt their homes, solving health problems and improving housing conditions through grants for rehabilitation works, with specific requirements of income and housing characteristics, managed through a request protocol.

During the past year 2025, a total of 80 people requested and received economic aid, in its different typologies of emergency, family economic or of the presidential exclusion prevention project, with a total amount of 117,455 euros.

As for the soup kitchen, the delegation has made a total of 339 referrals of users to this service, which had a total of 630 beneficiaries.

The delegation of Social Welfare resolved favorably during the past year about 1,500 applications, the vast majority of them corresponding to administrative formalities with which

The City Council provides an essential service of advice and attention to the neighbor in their dealings with other administrations and / or entities.

In this way, 168 requests for vulnerability reports have been processed, within the actions included in the Housing Law. This document is essential for applying for certain public aid or for judicial proceedings.

Also, 14 applications for the elaboration of reports for the accreditation of Social Exclusion Collectives have been handled, within the Professional Experiences for Employment Program (EPES); as well as one hundred reports on the social insertion of foreigners in the municipality; and 50 travel ticket authorizations.

This delegation also processed 15 applications for parking spaces for people with reduced mobility and 23 applications for certificates of non-receipt of municipal financial aid. The latter are made to be eligible to join the PREPARA programs (professional retraining for long-term unemployed who exhaust their benefits) and Employment Activation Program of the Andalusian Employment Service. This certificate has also served, on some occasions, to enable users to negotiate with banks their mortgage on their homes.

Regarding the program of reinforcement of child nutrition in public schools of Infant and Primary Education with canteen service, of the Department of Equality and Social Policies of the Andalusian Regional Government, 42 requests have been processed for the 2024/2025 academic year and 22 for the current 2025/2026 academic year.

The work of quick and direct attention to the citizen in social material also includes the processing of a series of bonuses of the water rate to applicants who meet a series of requirements. During 2025, 23 applications for the special rebate and another 10 for the simple rebate were processed. Likewise, 75 requests for the accreditation document with which people with special circumstances can apply for the social electric bonus have been attended.