Major welfare charity says price rises have pushed 10,000 more to seek its help

A large welfare and poverty-action charity has said that some 10,000 people made use of its services in Malaga province for the first time in 2022.

The local branch of Cáritas, which is run by the Catholic Church, helped 30,897 people in 2022, and a third of those were new users, it has said. A third had also been making use of the charity for over three years.

The figures were announced as part of an awareness campaign of Cáritas's work linked to a day of Charity last Sunday coinciding with Corpus Christi.

Although there were slightly fewer people using Cáritas' support in 2022 compared to 2021, the organisation highlighted the fact that 74 per cent of those benefitting were women, many of whom with children to support.

The slight improvement is due, according to Francisco José Sánchez Heras, director of the charity in Malaga, to employment levels bouncing back after the pandemic.

Commenting on the many long-term users, he added, "Poverty becomes entrenched and people's problems are sometimes structural, such as lack of employment and housing."

Some 56 per cent of people seeking help had problems related to housing and 71 per cent were unemployed.