Two-child households could qualify for large-family benefits if one parent has a disability of at least 33%. On Tuesday, the government is due to approve a decree extending social protection to more than 760,000 households, or nearly three million people.
The measure is budgeted at €820 million a year. As.com reports that the Ministry of Social Rights estimates more than 760,000 families will benefit directly. The decree would officially recognize single-parent families and provide them with specific protection.
It would also extend large-family benefits to single-parent households with two children. Families with two children could qualify if a parent has a disability of 33% or more. The rules would widen access to the special large-family category for households with four or more children, as well as families whose income per member is below 150% of the IPREM from the third child onward.
Pedro Sánchez has described the measure as a step towards greater support for parents raising children alone. Social Rights Minister Pablo Bustinduy, who announced the development on Bluesky Social, said the decree is a legislative objective. Sánchez also referred to the measure in a post on X.
Rail safety is also on Tuesday’s agenda. At 16:00, First Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo is scheduled to meet the association representing victims of the 2013 Alvia crash at Angrois, where 80 people died. Cuerpo has temporarily taken on the Transport and Sustainable Mobility portfolio after Óscar Puente’s resignation. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced the ministerial change on 4 November, saying Cuerpo would hold the post until the 29 November general election. The 10 November government agenda also lists Cuerpo’s attendance at a 19:00 funeral Mass in Toledo Cathedral for the 69 people killed in the Urda rail accident on 28 October.
Felipe VI and Letizia are due to attend the Mass, led by Toledo Archbishop Francisco Cerro Chaves alongside auxiliary bishop Francisco César García Magán. The victims’ platform is urging Cuerpo to remove the rule that allows trains to travel at up to 200 kilometres per hour with Asfa as a backup if the ERTMS or LZB systems fail. The group says the Urda and Angrois accidents show that this arrangement is unsafe and is calling for the high-speed systems to be available as fully as possible. The Ministry of Transport opened applications for Urda accident assistance on 6 November. The government’s package includes a non-repayable payment of €72,121.46 for each death, alongside an advance of the same amount against future civil-liability compensation. Together, those payments can reach €144,242.92 per death; compulsory passenger insurance can bring the possible total to €216,364.38. Injury payments range from €2,404.04 to €84,141.70 according to severity. The ministry says the assistance is compatible with insurance and civil-liability compensation and is exempt from tax.
The campaign for the general election scheduled for 29 November officially begins on Friday. Polls cited by As.com give the right-wing bloc an advantage.
