Overview
- As of 31 May 2026 the Asociación Estatal de Directoras y Gerentes reported 265,460 people on dependency waiting lists, with 110,108 awaiting assessment and 155,352 awaiting recognised services.
- The association says the average time to resolve a case is 320 days, far above the 180-day legal limit, and records 13,503 deaths among people on the lists between January and May 2026.
- The group attributes the 2026 slowdown to the end of the Plan de Choque’s extra €600 million funding after 2023 and to a lack of renewed budget increases from the national Ministry of Derechos Sociales.
- Regional performance varies sharply: Castilla y León averages 119 days to resolve cases while Murcia, Andalucía and Asturias report the longest delays at roughly 552, 446 and 411 days respectively, and Catalunya carries the largest caseload with 80,827 people waiting.
- Catalan authorities have begun immediate measures including PIA Exprés cash payments of €100–€200 while pushing to digitalise paperwork; the association’s broader context notes two decades of underfunding, ageing demand and that ministries and regions count waiting lists differently which explains official discrepancies.