MADRID – Cáritas, the church charity that operates all over the world, served 2,513,563 people in Spain last year. This represents a 32% increase of the number of people needing help, according to their annual report for 2013; and an alarming 578% more than in 2007. The 70 diocesan branches invested some €291,346,117, of which 75% comes from private donations and the rest from public funding. The report points out (and thanks) the 78,017 volunteers throughout the country, as well as the 4,171 remunerated staff, all of whom work through the 7,194 Cáritas service centres. The charity also refers to last year’s increase in resources used for strategic programmes aimed at the precarious situation of people on the margins of society, such as the homeless or the long-term unemployed.
