3.2 Public and the Private (Third Sector)
Social assistance in Spain is part of the Welfare Sate, which offers its citizens a network of resources, benefits and services that help and guide them in their process of fully integrating to society.
The management and implementation of these resources is in the hands of:
- The Public Sector
- The Third Sector: civil organizations (associations, NGOs, unions, federations, foundations, etc.) that develop private actions with public purposes.
The Third Sector plays a main role in the social service system in this country.
- Secondary to the role of the State, the social associations and entities design and implement various services and resources for the citizens. Services that pursue a general economic or social interest or addressed to specific groups of citizens, such as women, youth, people with disabilities, immigrants, etc.
- They have a presence in the public social service system, since a lot of them manage public services funded by public administrations.
Therefore, a lot of the services that are available to you are provided by social entities of different kinds and you will find information about them in this guide.
