The Canary Islands allocates thousands of euros to help residents in Cuba with precarious situations.

The government of Canarias continues with its aid plan for Canarian emigrants and their descendants in Cuba, granting 56 financial aid packages totaling 11,200 euros to support those in precarious situations.

The initiative is driven by the Vice Ministry of Foreign Action of the Government of Canary Islands, at the proposal of the General Directorate of Emigration, reported the newspaper España Exterior.

According to the news portal, the beneficiaries must be "elderly individuals with the health problems that come with it."

This assistance becomes more relevant in the Cuban context, as the country is facing one of the most severe economic crises in decades. Prices in the market have doubled in the last two years due to the severe shortage of resources and the continuous depreciation of the peso.

Cuba is facing a serious shortage of basic products such as food, medicine, and fuel, a situation that particularly affects the population with lower incomes.

"These aids aim to address situations of extreme economic and assistance need affecting Canary emigrants in the country," the news website stated.

The published note clarifies that the maximum amount for each individual aid will be 200 euros, as "these are direct subsidies of an exceptional nature for humanitarian reasons of urgent need," noted España Exterior.

Spain offers extraordinary aid to its nationals residing abroad who are in situations of need. This assistance is channeled through different differentiated programs, which are incompatible with each other.

These initiatives have become more important for Cubans residing on the island who have obtained Spanish nationality in recent years, first through the Historical Memory Law and, more recently, the Democratic Memory Law, which has been extended for another year.

The Principality of Asturias (Spain) published a call for assistance last April, which can be accessed by Asturians and descendants of Asturians (up to the first degree of consanguinity) residing in Latin American countries, Central America, and the Greater Antilles, which includes Cuba.

The grants are aimed at those individuals over 65 years old who are in situations of need or lack sufficient income or earnings, according to information from the Asturian Government's website.

However, adults aged between 18 and 64 may also apply for these individual aid as long as they can prove they have been victims of gender-based violence, suffer from a permanent disability to work, or have a serious illness.

More than 160,000 Spanish citizens were living in Cuba at the beginning of 2023, according to data from the Register of Spaniards Resident Abroad.

That entity detailed in its latest report on Spanish nationals living abroad that 160,833 of them resided in Cuba on January 1, 2023.