The Bishop of Majorca during Thursday's presentation of the Caritas annual report. | Pilar Pellicer

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In 2019, the church charity Caritas helped 8,787 people in Majorca and disbursed 3.3 million euros.

The 2019 report, which was released on Thursday, shows that 59% of aid applicants were women and that there was a seven per cent decrease in the number of Spanish people to 31%. There was an increase of more than six per cent (to 64.5%) in the number of people from non-EU countries; just over half of these people were from Latin America and the Caribbean. Slightly more than 40% were experiencing "an irregular administrative situation".

Of the total, 45.4% were families with children or single parents, while 33.2% were single or living together without having a relationship. Seventy-two per cent were of active employment age, and out of these, 61.6% were unemployed; 7.4% had a contract and were registered with social security, while three per cent had no contract and were not registered. Almost eighteen per cent were illiterate, and 37.6% had no more than primary education.

The lack of income meant that 13% of financial aid was for basic food necessities, with 70% having gone on housing aid (this was up 13% from 2018). Nine per cent of aid went towards providing children's educational material and textbooks.