28 January 2026
Bilbao Campus
On 27 January, Cáritas Bizkaia, in collaboration with the Deusto Social Values team from the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences and the FOESSA Foundation, presented the report on social exclusion and social development in the Basque Country at the University of Deusto. The FOESSA Report 2025 presents the results of the 2024 Survey on Social Integration and Needs and, in the words of Rector Juan José Etxeberria at the opening of the event, sheds light and allows for an in-depth understanding of a reality we know only partially, while also defining the ethical pulse of our time. The institutional opening was also attended by the Director of Caritas-Bizkaia, Elena Unzueta.
The report, presented by Ana Sofi Telletxea, Amaia Izaola, María Silvestre and Imanol Zubero, is a key sociological reference in the study of poverty, exclusion and social inequality. The document highlights the existence of precariousness that is becoming structural, affecting significant sectors of society and, in the Basque Country, accounting for a third of the population. In the speakers’ view, social transformations are needed to promote redistributive welfare models, foster community, strengthen social bonds, and reverse political disengagement. “It is necessary to respond to uncertainties and build trust: trust in institutions, trust in people, and trust in the future,” they said.
Among those present were the Bishop of Bilbao, Joseba Segura; the Director of Social Integration of the Biscay Provincial Council, Oscar Sector; and the Director of the Ellacuría Foundation, Marisabel Albizu, along with representatives from various public institutions and Third Sector organisations.
Society on a tightrope
"At Deusto we often say that our mission does not end in the classroom. As a university of the Society of Jesus, our excellence is measured by the impact we have on the lives of others, especially those who suffer exclusion,” said Rector Juan José Etxeberria. He added that the FOESSA Report holds up a mirror, reflecting a complex and challenging image of our society, particularly that of the Basque Country.
While it is true that the Basque Country continues to maintain levels of social protection and income above the Spanish average, the Rector emphasised that we must not fall into complacency over macroeconomic data, because behind the average indicators lie very different economic, social, and human realities. The figures highlight a worrying trend: the full integration of individuals is declining in the Basque Country. Today, more than 259,000 people in the Basque Country live in a situation of exclusion. Most alarming, however, is the growth of what FOESSA calls the “society on a tightrope”: this precarious integration already affects more than a third of the population.
These are families for whom having a job no longer ensures they escape poverty. There are households where access to housing has become an insurmountable barrier that consumes more than 40% of their income, and a worrying gap in disposable income that particularly affects households with children and people of foreign origin. In this regard, Juan José Etxeberria stated that “as Basque society, we cannot allow fragmentation in which gender, age, or origin determine life expectancy or the academic success of our young people.”
Faced with this scenario, the mission of the University of Deusto is to contribute, through education and research, to the transformations needed to build fairer societies. We are proactive actors in addressing these challenges through three fundamental pillars. On the one hand, "purposeful research" to achieve structural solutions. From analysing the labour market to assessing the impact of digitalisation on social inequality, Deusto puts its research capacity at the service of public policy, ensuring that the income guarantee system remains not only the necessary safety net, but also a springboard for individual autonomy and well-being.
On the other hand, comprehensive education. In our classrooms, we are shaping the individuals who will become future judges, doctors, economists, social workers, and business leaders. The University’s commitment is that they graduate not only with a degree, but with distinctive skills and human values, with the awareness that a society that leaves 259,000 people behind is an incomplete society. "We want a 'sense of fairness' to be one of their qualities".
And finally, social commitment. At Deusto, we work closely with a range of economic and social actors (including the Third Sector) and with public institutions to strengthen the “inclusive we” highlighted in the report. In this regard, the generation and transfer of knowledge should serve to “humanise care, reduce bureaucracy, and place life at the centre of the public agenda.”
The FOESSA 2025 report is not only an analysis of indicators and social reality, but also a roadmap for active hope, containing proposals for action. It notes that exclusion is avoidable if there is political, social, and academic will. The Basque Country has the tools and the community tradition to reverse this trend. True to its motto, Sapientia melior auro, Deusto will continue to promote knowledge that is worth more than gold: knowledge that heals wounds and builds bridges.
