Then why do I think they do? Did they ever?

I'm sure my friend who lives in Spain said that they get one free week per year.

Hi
The Spanish pensioner's/disabled persons have no such thing as a free week, "free" as in entirely free.
In the past, I was under the impression that the holidays for this group of people were totally subsidised by the government, but they are not, they all pay, albeit a reduced rate and talking to a Spanish pensioner soon put me right, and then I looked into further when I got home.

IMSERSO is the Spanish government organisation that runs this programme and the disabled /pensioners are not sent anywhere, they have to apply, and it has quite a few "rules" or criteria that they have to meet to qualify and acquire the necessary "points" or "credits". EG:
They have to be a resident in Spain. Be over 65 years old. Be retired from the public retirement pension system. Be widow's pension age equal to or greater than 55 years and I think if they've retired early through ill health or disability, the age comes down to 60 years old, but they all must be able to fend for themselves and have no behaviour problems that could cause problems that prevent " normal life" in the hotels.

If they have a child with disabilities, the disabilities have to be rated at 45% minimum and they can accompany the child as long as they all share the same room
If it's a single traveller, they pay more.
I'm not 100% positive about this because sometimes I have problems with the Spanish language, but I think if they are a married couple with one having a greater age than the other, but one of them isn't 65 years old and therefore doesn't qualify for the programme, they will combine the ages, divide the combined ages and the figure has to be 65 or over. EG: Husband 68 yrs old, wife 62 yrs old + 130 years ÷ 65 yrs and I also think it's means tested, for a married couple their combined pensions and income will be taken into account"¦.the scheme stops when a person reaches 80 yrs old.

But it may surprise you to learn, that it costs the Spanish government nothing because although the programme involved funding of €50 million, the government recovers all the money back in other ways and for every €1 spent on the programme, they recover €1.8. (based on figures for 2004)

How do they do that, you may ask.?
Well, for a moment you have to think of Spain (the whole country) and not just Benidorm, and after October some places which rely on tourism, they close down, which means many jobs are lost and many people who are employed in the tourist industry have no qualifications to enable them to seek further employment.
When jobs are lost, then the government has to pay out benefits and this can cover families where several members of one family are all employed in some way or another, either directly or indirectly in the tourist sector"¦and it has a knock-on effect that ripples throughout the country, EG: the people employed in a hotel, the food suppliers, the farmers, the laundry workers, the transport industry, the maintenance men, electricians, plumbers, etc etc.

Therefore, this scheme was not set-up solely to give pensioners a "freebie" holiday, it was created to keep people in jobs by keeping establishments/hotels open between October and June by sending pensioners there, in what is low season or virtual shutdown and at the same time giving OAP's the chance to afford and enjoy a holiday.
Pensioners also spent money in the resort/city, which keeps local traders in business too"¦..and all these people pay tax to the government when they are kept in work.

So, you can see why this scheme is self funding and a success, the government recover the money by not paying out benefits on a mass scale due to seasonal unemployment and they collect various taxes while ever people are kept in work.
It also has a psychological effect because when permanent employment contracts are acquired, then people tend to buy things, which maybe they wouldn't do when on a temporary contract (which also generates income for the government) and the icing on the cake is, that sending their OAP's away for a holiday is beneficial to some vulnerable citizens and the image of the country.

On application to join the scheme, the pensioners have several choices on where they want to go, how long they want to stay and the type of holiday they would like. EG:
Between October and June, Mainland Spain and the Balearics, or the Canary Islands or Portugal"¦. Or a holiday based on a coastal resort, cultural (museums/art), nature orientated/countryside or an interchange with Portugal"¦and the price or contribution they make will depend on whichever type of holiday they chose and get accepted for"¦.depending on the availability.

They are guaranteed transport from their city to the hotel and back (if otherwise stated that transport is not included in the price), full board of the hotel which IMSERSO have chosen, Insurance, Medical services (state level) and an entertainment programme"¦.obviously if they chose a holiday based on the countryside, then they don't include medical services and an entertainment programme.

The prices/contributions for 2008/2009 can be found by scrolling down this link.

http://www.seg-social.es/imserso/enveje ... g0809.html

OSCARBEN wrote:

I'm glad that at least it can be affordable,pity we don't treat our pensioners to a cheap holiday,lots of them would appreciate it.Reading your post sanji its not necessarily for the pensioners benefit but good for the economy,makes good sense when they rely so heavily on tourism.Thanks for the link explaining how it works.

I don't know if it is different in some regions, but pensionistas of any nation can have a cheap holiday as long as they are registered living in Spain.

Our pensioners do get cheap holidays, they can go when the rest of us are at work and our kids are at school!

sanji wrote:

Tell you what, pay me the same state pension per month that the Spanish pensioners receive and offer me the same priced holiday as the IMSERSO scheme, and then I might believe you.

Sanji