Cáritas Tenerife attended to almost 15,000 people in 2024, a year described by the entity as one of “light and shadows” because, despite a slight improvement in indicators, poverty has become entrenched, housing has turned into a silent emergency, and they have attended 70% more homeless individuals than five years ago.
These are part of the data corresponding to the report of Cáritas in the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife from last year, when they attended to 14,929 people, including 2,830 minors. 65% of those assisted were women, and the group aged 45 to 60 years old represent almost 60% of the beneficiaries of their projects.
Participating in the presentation were the bishop of Tenerife, Eloy Santiago, the provincial director of Cáritas, Juan Rognoni, and its secretary general, Ricardo Iglesias, who also referred to the insufficient response offered by public administrations to a sustained situation of “people trapped in exclusion”.
In this regard, Bishop Eloy Santiago noted that the report does not refer to figures and numbers, but to people, and called on society to eliminate all causes of exclusion, while Juan Rognoni clarified that, although the number of people attended is 12% lower than in 2023, “we are returning to data from five years ago, with the pandemic”.
Therefore, Cáritas believes this trend will continue in 2025, particularly given “one of the essential problems that has worsened in recent years, showing no signs of resolution: the silent emergency of housing,” added Rognoni.
Thus, the area of housing and social inclusion attended to 3,375 people last year, 275 of whom were placed in the eight accommodation resources for homeless people that Cáritas manages in Tenerife and La Palma.
Additionally, Cáritas has confirmed the increasing trend of homeless individuals attended by its mobile street care units on both islands, which assisted 1,252 users in 2024, 70% more than five years ago.
One of its projects, Base 25, dedicated to preventing homelessness, attended to 733 households and 1,848 people last year, including 553 minors, who received social and legal support, as well as help in job searching, for families affected by evictions and budgetary executions, among other situations.
Related to the employment programme, 746 people were attended to in the Barrios por el empleo project and another 368 in the socio-labour integration itineraries of the Mila initiative.
Of the total participants accompanied, 388 people received professional or complementary training, and a total of 313 (28%) achieved integration. Regarding this, the leaders of Cáritas have emphasised that “access to employment is a fundamental element for the personal and family integration of people”, but there is, on the contrary, the figure of the “precarious” worker who is close to vulnerability.
Projects, by islands
The work also became evident in the Volcanic Emergency project on the island of La Palma, which attended to 159 families and a total of 223 people in the various actions conducted to alleviate the effects of the Tajogaite eruption and continues to provide responses and direct aid to families affected by the evacuation of their homes.
Another line of work that emerged as a result of the volcanic eruption was support for the loneliness of elderly people who lost their homes or were evacuated for years, having to weave new networks and start life anew in an unfamiliar environment. To respond to this group, the Activa2 project was launched in Las Manchas and Los Llanos de Aridane, which last year involved 31 participants.
Similarly, in its programme for the elderly, Cáritas attended 75 people through its two day centres in Santa Cruz and La Laguna, and the Santa Luisa de Marillac project, in La Gomera.
Also, within the drug and alcohol detoxification programme Drago, 194 people were attended, 37% of whom received therapeutic discharge.
Additionally, Cáritas has specified that of the total people attended in 2024, migrants represented 35.4% (59.6% women), and actions are carried out like the Building Community project, aiming to respond to the needs identified in the listening processes to the migrant population, to foster active participation in the community, improve coexistence, and prevent discrimination.
Economically, Cáritas Tenerife obtained resources amounting to 8,307,163 euros last year, of which 2,718,863.39 euros (32.73%) came from private contributions from individual donors, foundations, companies, and parish collections, while the rest, a total of 5,588,300.21 euros (67.27%) came from public resources.
Of the total resources obtained, 93.45% was allocated to social action and various projects and programmes of the entity, which counted on 869 members and donors and 925 volunteers.
Canary Islands Report: lacking housing and low wages
Three days ago, Cáritas also presented its report on the Canary community, highlighting the housing problem and emphasising that it is undergoing a critical moment, necessitating a reorganisation of the institution as it has surpassed its capacity for social care due to economic difficulties, compromising its ability to respond to the needs of the most vulnerable people in the province of Las Palmas.
According to the annual report, 32% of families at risk of residential exclusion attended by Cáritas’ Housing area were single-parent (households led by a woman), and 58% of these families were also foreign. “This type of household faces more complex situations and any kind of material scarcity multiplies in homes where there is only one adult and minors in care. In these households, work-life balance capacity decreases, they rely on a single income, and there is no regulatory framework defining and regulating single-parent families”, details the report.
Other determining factors are the low wages in the Canary Islands, coupled with job insecurity in the hospitality industry and the fact that many of the people assisted come from the informal economy. Others receive a small allowance, but it does not cover all basic services. Therefore, Cáritas has insisted that the profiles of those seeking their assistance have changed, and people who never thought they would require this aid now do.
