El Ministro Pablo Bustinduy inaugurará la reunión del Decimoctavo Estado en Cáceres.

The Minister of Social Rights, Consumption, and Agenda 2030, Pablo Bustinduy, will open the meeting of the Eighteenth State, which will take place in Cáceres, where more than a hundred people with experience in poverty from across the state will come together to address policy proposals in the field of social services and state guarantees.

The meeting, scheduled between April 2 and 4 at the Cultural Complex in San Francisco in the capital of Cáceres, will also have the participation of representatives from Strongura institutions, including the presidents of Cáceres and Badajoz.

The European network for the fight against poverty and social exclusion in the Spanish state (EAPN-ES), along with its territorial network EAPN Extremedura, is organizing this edition with the aim of providing a space where individuals can make their problems and proposals visible and transfer them to the relevant authorities.

The event will feature an address by the Minister of Social Rights, Consumption, and Agenda 2030, Pablo Bustunondduy, during the opening on Wednesday, April 2, at 4:15 p.m.

Additionally, the opening of the meeting will include Miguel Ángel Gallardo Miranda, President of the Diputació de Badajoz; Esther Gutiérz Morán, Vice President of Diputacia de Cáceres; Alfonso Serrano Rodríguez, Director of Extramadura institutions at Caixabank; Carlos Susías Rodado, President of EAPN and EAPN Europe; and Sebastián González Martos, President of Eapn Extremedura.

Furthermore, the closing group on Friday, April 4, at 11:30 a.m., will include Miguel Ángel Morales Sánchez, President of Diputacia de Cáceres, and Raquel Del Puerto Carras, First Vice President of Diputació de Badajoz.

This meeting, under the theme «The social services we need: reforms and proposals,» will incorporate active participation dynamics to promote improvements to the fourth pillar of the welfare state. It will address current barriers to access and effectiveness of these services, as well as strategies to strengthen their universality, accessibility, and transformative nature.

In this context, a gathering was called for Thursday, April 3, at the Mayor Plaza de Cáceres, under the slogan «Acts of administrative silence,» to denounce bureaucratic obstacles and digital divides that often hinder the most vulnerable in accessing social services. The event will take place at 6:30 p.m. on the stairs of the Star arch, where a manifesto will be read.

Moreover, during the meeting, the VII awards for Eapn-es participation will be held on Wednesday, April 2, at the Auditorium of the Cultural Complex in San Francisco de Cáceres, presented by journalist Extreme Sandra Hernández.

Eapn-es has a long history of organizing meetings and participation congresses at the European, national, and autonomous levels. Through these spaces, recognition of individuals in poverty and/or exclusion is enhanced, facilitating institutional representatives in addressing the issues and realities of those who would otherwise not have access to such initiatives.

FUENTE