Municipal governments nationwide have registered a veritable avalanche of requests for emergency aid and distribution of food to the most vulnerable, many of whom are locked down in their homes during the coronavirus crisis and unable to shop for themselves.
Faced with the crisis, municipalities across Spain are turning to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for help, with local offices of the Spanish Red Cross at the forefront of helping municipalities with the deliveries along with non-governmental organizations that work on a daily basis with the homeless and the elderly.
Social care agencies and foodbanks in Spain’s largest cities have experienced an increase in requests for delivery of food on the order of 50 percent. In Madrid, for example, authorities received almost half a thousand daily calls for help to the dedicated municipal phone number 010, while Barcelona’s municipal government says it has increased the distribution of food to the homes of the most vulnerable and to food kitchens by as much as 30 percent.
► News Sources: Público, El Día and 20minutos …
In Valencia, more than 600 meals a day for the homeless and residents of the city’s poorer neighborhoods are being delivered. In Sevilla, meanwhile, more than 3,000 families or homeless are being fed by municipal social service workers, with another 1,500 receiving food deliveries from NGOs and food banks working with the municipal government.
Even celebrity chefs are jumping in to help, with renowned U.S.-based Spanish chef José Andrés, putting his World Central Kitchen (WCK) foundation into action, preparing and delivering food to the needy in Madrid and plans to do the same in Barcelona and Valencia in the coming days.
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