Valencia Commits €52.9M to Support 12,000 Disabled Workers Across 142 Special Employment Centres

Summary

The Valencian regional government has allocated €52.9 million through its Labora employment agency to support approximately 12,000 people with disabilities working at 142 Special Employment Centres across the region. First Vice President Susana Camarero and Regional Secretary Antonio Galvañ visited the For&From Tempe Inditex centre in San Vicente del Raspeig, where 13 people with various disabilities work in live retail operations — a model running since 2002 that Inditex has expanded across Spain. APSA, the region's leading disability employment organisation, manages around 2,000 positions in Alicante province alone with over 180 support professionals. Officials framed the investment as a recognition that employment provides not just income but autonomy, dignity, and social inclusion — directly challenging assumptions that disability limits professional capability. The initiative is timely: only one in four working-age people with disabilities in Spain holds a job nationally, one of the lowest rates in the EU. For employers, the For&From commercial model shows that inclusive employment in retail, logistics, and services is commercially viable without compromising standards.