The Spanish government announced on Tuesday that it would introduce supermarket payment cards so vulnerable families “do not have to queue at food banks.” The Socialist Party-led government said it wanted to offer the scheme to around 70,000 households, or more than 100,000 people, from April this year.
The announcement was made by Social Rights Minister Pablo Bastinduy on Tuesday at a press conference after the weekly cabinet meeting.
“Today we take a decisive step towards dignified social protection so that families caring for sons and daughters no longer have to queue at food banks,” said Europa Press. He said this in a comment reported by.
The government’s idea is to replace the current system in which authorities are responsible for purchasing goods to be distributed to extremely poor families.
Instead, these payment cards will be available for use at certain supermarket chains, with the aim of “dignifying and normalizing” access to basic products.
The supermarket itself is responsible for informing families of the products that can be purchased with the card and those that are excluded from this scheme.
The minister added that this model would “give families direct access to fresh produce such as fruit and vegetables, but the nature of the existing shopping bag distribution system meant that this was not a viable option”.
The card will be available to families with children who earn less than 40% of the average income. The social security system in each region of Spain is responsible for assessing who is eligible to receive the cards and distributing them.
The government will allocate 660 million euros to this plan over the next seven years.
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