A Decade-Old Glitch Comes Back to Haunt Families
In Catalonia, a reform introduced more than a decade ago has languished, unimplemented, in the administrative machinery. The result? Today, over sixty families are being asked to reimburse social assistance they received in error—aid that was paid out through no fault of their own.
Sergi’s Story: From Hospital Hallways to Unexpected Debts
It’s a struggle that wears on the soul. Since the age of five, Sergi has been more familiar with the corridors of Barcelona Hospital than with the desks at school. Nine years of chemotherapy, medical tests, and relentless perseverance—his childhood devoured by leukemia. Now that his illness seems to have finally receded, Sergi faces a new, and completely unexpected, battle: a letter arrives from the Catalan administration, in his name, demanding repayment of €5,000 (around $5,400), for what it calls “improperly received” welfare benefits.
The news hit like a guillotine. For years, Sergi’s mother, Mar, raised him alone while taking on every expense the illness required: supplements, vitamins, travel to appointments, and parking fees at the hospital. These costs, not covered by Spanish Social Security, quietly accumulated. In 2016, a social worker finally pointed her to a monthly benefit of €263, meant to ease the family’s mounting burden.
From Relief to Panic: Bureaucracy Strikes Again
That support brought genuine relief, letting them finally look to the future of Sergi’s treatment with a bit more confidence. But then, in May 2025, Mar received a registered letter from the Generalitat (Catalonia’s regional government). The letter, addressed in Sergi’s name, declared that the family had received “undue” payments. To add insult to injury, it had been sent for an entire year to the wrong address, so late fees and interest had piled up as well.
Stunned, Mar went to the tax offices to understand what had happened. There, she was told that if the debt was not paid, her son could be saddled with it as soon as he turned 18:
“When he turns 18, as soon as he finds his first job, his accounts will be seized,” she told the Catalan media outlet 3cat.
Not Just One Family: A System-Wide Problem
The kicker? Sergi’s case is not unique. Feeling out of her depth, Mar reached out to the Síndic de Greuges—the Catalan equivalent of the public ombudsman or a national rights defender. There, she learned that more than sixty families are in the same dire situation, all victims of a calculation mistake stretching back over a decade.
In 2012, a reform of the welfare calculation system was supposed to change the process—but the new rules were never properly applied by the administration. As a result, families kept receiving the old, higher benefit amounts without ever being informed of the mistake. Now, the government is knocking on their doors, asking them to repay the difference, with some families facing demands as high as €25,000 (almost $27,000).
After public outrage, the Síndic de Greuges called on the Generalitat to simply cancel these unfair debts. On September 30, a decree was published at last: it stated that these “undue payments” would not be recovered from the families concerned.
