Spain to approve 45 million euros for 2,000 university places and a new student statute

Seven projects and 45 million euros

Pedro Sánchez, the president of the government, announced on Monday, 19 October, that the Council of Ministers will approve a package of 45 million euros for public university residences at its meeting on Tuesday, 20 October. He said the money will fund seven concrete projects that should start within a very short time and create nearly 2,000 new places in public universities in a first phase. He put it this way during his appearance at La Moncloa:

The 45 million will go to seven specific projects, it is not something abstract.

Europa Press reports that the package includes aid already announced for the Pablo de Olavide University in Seville, which gets 6,504,300 euros, and for the University of Jaén, which gets 2,974,500 euros. The Seville project would provide 219 places on a municipal plot in Montequinto, in Dos Hermanas.

El País gives a different figure for Jaén, 3.56 million euros, and lists the Autonomous University of Madrid at 13.36 million, the Albacete campus of the UCLM at 8.19 million, Burgos at 5.94 million, the Jaume I University in Castellón at 4.45 million and Lleida city council at 2.97 million. The same outlet describes the places as rooms with shared areas and affordable prices rather than full residences.

El País says three ministries, Housing, Science and Economy, have shaped the project since 2024, and that the selected projects already had land, a timetable and a plan. Europa Press adds that the maximum price will include electricity, water and wifi, and that the approved conditions require a public purpose and affordable prices, to be set in later resolutions or agreements.

What the new statute changes

The royal decree approving the Estatuto del Estudiantado Universitario replaces a text from 2010 and is also due on Tuesday. According to El Mundo, universities would have to offer places for students in colleges, residences or other arrangements, either their own or through agreements with public or private bodies. They would also need student support units offering psychological and mental health advice, along with guidance on studies, careers, scholarships and housing. El País reports that the text recognises psychological care on campus as a right, eases combining study with work, and allows assessments to be adapted for students with dyslexia or dyscalculia. Sánchez described the aim of the statute this way:

The objective of the statute is that no personal, family or economic circumstance means that anyone cannot go as far as their effort and talent allow.

El País reports that the decree will not need parliamentary endorsement and that the Consejo de Estado has just issued its report. La Vanguardia cites ministry sources saying a favourable vote from the Consejo de Estado is not required.

Electoral backdrop

La Razón describes Tuesday's approvals as part of a run of "social Tuesdays" in the weeks before the general election on 29 November, which follows the dissolution of the Cortes. It links the housing focus to the confrontation with Alberto Núñez Feijóo after parliament rejected two royal decrees on housing that the government had presented, a defeat La Razón says precipitated the early election. El País describes Sánchez as already inside the pre-campaign. Diana Morant, the minister of Science, Innovation and Universities, was due to attend the signing but could not reach La Moncloa because of the flooding (dana) in the Valencian Community.

Who attended the signing

Representatives of the CRUE rectors' conference and two student bodies, CREUP and CEUNE, attended the signing at La Moncloa. El País says the statute is the product of consensus among the Ministry of Science, the CRUE and the student associations. Only Sánchez spoke at the event. El País also reports that Julián Garde, the new CRUE president, told the newspaper that the subsidy will go to the company that wins the tender, so that the rent charged for the flats is genuinely affordable.