In the two-and-a-half-year period between 2023 and the first half of 2025, the Social Security Institute (ISS) inspected 1,608 residential facilities for the elderly and 363 day-care centres.

In both cases, according to a report sent to Lusa news agency, more than a third of the establishments inspected were unlicensed, with 637 illegal homes and 129 illegal day-care centres identified.

Social Security does not specify what was decreed in these cases, which in the most serious situations can result in closure, but states that, following inspections, an additional 350 establishments were ordered to close.

The majority of the closed establishments are nursing homes: 307 in total, 56 of which were urgent closures, due to lack of conditions that pose an imminent threat to the rights and quality of life of their users.

In urgent closure situations, the ISS immediately removes the people, who are then placed with families or suitable alternative social services.

This year alone, during the first half of the year, nine urgent closures of nursing homes and 50 administrative closures were decreed, in these cases due to a lack of conditions that do not pose a danger to the users.

Regarding day-care centres, Social Security ordered the closure of 43 establishments, nearly half of which will occur in 2023, a year in which two urgent closures and 31 administrative closures were decreed.

In the first six months of 2025, two day-care centres were urgently closed and another five were administratively closed.

In the report sent to Lusa, the ISS also states that during the first half of the year, it received 52 requests for operating authorization for new day-care centres, and 22 began operations.

"According to the Social Charter, in December 2024, there were 2,594 day-care centres," the Social Security agency states, specifying that the installed capacity reached 133,691 places.

"The opening of more day-care centres is planned. Updating coverage rates and the launch of a digital platform for managing and monitoring social response vacancies will enable planning and increasing the number of vacancies based on a more accurate assessment of the needs of the territories," it adds.

Since 2023, the number of cooperation agreements has increased from 1,875 to 1,889 in 2025, with a €46.10 increase in the monthly contribution per patient, from €473.80 to €519.90.

Regarding nursing homes, Social Security received 65 requests for operating authorization during the first half of the year, and 26 new establishments began operating.

In December 2024, there were 105,316 places in nursing homes, of which 74,424 (71%) had a cooperation agreement with the ISS (Social Security Service).

By institution, Social Security established 1,721 cooperation agreements (12 more than in 2023) and increased the contribution per patient per month from €523.29 to €666.90.