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• Article 1. Purpose of the Act.
• Article 2. Definitions.
• Article 3. Guiding Principles of the Act.
• Article 4. Rights and duties of the dependent persons.
• Article 5. Rights holders.

Article 1. Purpose of the Act.

1. The purpose of this Act is to regulate the basic conditions that shall guarantee equality in the exercise of the subjective citizen right to the promotion of personal autonomy and care for dependent persons, according to the terms laid down in legislation, by means of the creation of a System for Autonomy and Care for Dependency, with the collaboration and participation of all of the Public Administrations and the guarantee by the General State Administration of a minimum common content of rights for all citizens in any part of Spanish State territory.

2. The System for Autonomy and Care for Dependency shall respond to a coordinated, cooperative initiative by the General State Administration and the Autonomous Communities, which shall contemplate measures in all areas affecting the dependent persons, with the participation of Local Entities where applicable.

Article 2. Definitions.

For the purposes of this Act, the following terms shall be understood to have the following meanings:

1. Autonomy: the ability to control, face and make, on one’s own initiative, personal decisions on how to live in accordance with one’s own standards and preferences and to carry out basic activities of daily living.

2. Dependency: the permanent state in which persons that for reasons derived from age, illness or disability and linked to the lack or loss of physical, mental, intellectual or sensorial autonomy require the care of another person/other people or significant help in order to perform basic activities of daily living or, in the case of people with mental disabilities or illness, other support for personal autonomy.

3. Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL): a person’s most elementary tasks, which allow him/her to live with a minimum level of autonomy and independence, such as: personal care, basic domestic activities, essential mobility, being able to recognise people and objects, being able to know where one is and find one’s way around, being able to understand and perform simple orders or tasks.

4. Need for support for personal autonomy: required by people that have intellectual or mental disability, in order that they may attain a satisfactory degree of personal autonomy in the community.

5. Non-professional care: care that is provided to the dependent persons in their homes, by members of their family or friends, not linked to a professional care system.

6. Professional care: care that is provided by a public institution or entity, either profit-seeking or not-for-profit, or a self-employed professional, the purposes of which include the provision of services to the dependent persons, either in their own homes or in a centre.

7. Personal assistance: service provided by a personal assistant that performs or collaborates with the dependent person’s everyday tasks, with the aim of encouraging his/her independent living and promoting and reinforcing his/her personal autonomy.

8. Third sector: private organisations arising from citizen or social initiative, under various modalities that meet criteria of solidarity and general public interest and are not for profit, promoting the acknowledgement and exercise of social rights.

Article 3. Guiding Principles of the Act.

The guiding principles of this Act are as follows:

1. Public nature of the services provided by the System for Autonomy and Care for Dependency.
2. Universality of access by all the dependent population, in conditions of effective equality and non-discrimination, according to the terms laid down in this Act.
3. Comprehensive, integrated care for dependent persons.
4. Transversality of policies on care for dependent persons.
5. Assessment of people’s needs, according to equity criteria in order to guarantee actual equality.
6. Personalised care, paying special attention to the situation of those that require greater positive action as a consequence of suffering a higher degree of discrimination or less equal opportunities.
7. Implementation of adequate measures for prevention, rehabilitation and social and mental stimulation.
8. Promotion of the necessary conditions in order that the dependent persons may lead their lives with the highest possible degree of autonomy.
9. The dependent persons shall remain, wherever possible, in the setting in which they live.
10. Quality, sustainability and accessibility of the services of care for dependent persons.
11. Participation by the dependent population, and where applicable, by their families and the entities that represent them, according to the terms provided in this Act.
12. Collaboration between the social and healthcare services in providing the services to the users of the System for Autonomy and Care for Dependency that are laid down in this Act and in the appropriate regulations issued by the Autonomous Communities and those that apply to the Local Entities.
13. Participation of private initiative in the services and benefits for the promotion of the personal autonomy and care for dependency.
14. Participation of the third sector in the services and benefits for the promotion of personal autonomy and care for dependency.
15. Inter-administrative cooperation.
16. Integration of the benefits provided for in this Act in the social services networks of the Autonomous Communities, in the scope of the competences that they have undertaken, and the acknowledgement and guarantee that they shall be offered via public or subsidised private centres and services.
17. Inclusion of the gender perspective, taking into account the different needs of women and men.
18. The severely dependent persons shall be cared for on a preferential basis.

Article 4. Rights and duties of the dependent persons.

1. The dependent persons shall be entitled, regardless of where in Spanish State territory they reside, to access under equal conditions, to the benefits and services foreseen in this Act, according to the terms laid down in it.

2. Similarly, the dependent persons shall enjoy all of the rights that are set out in standing legislation, and especially the following:

1. To enjoy the fundamental human rights and liberties, with full respect for their dignity and intimacy.
2. To receive, in understandable and accessible terms, full, ongoing information regarding their dependency.
3. To be notified if the procedures that are applied to them may be used as part of an educational or research project, whereas the express prior consent in writing of the dependent person or his/her representative is necessary.
4. To respect for confidentiality in the gathering and processing of their data, in accordance with Organic Law 15/1999, of 13th December, on the Protection of Personal Data. 
5. To participate in the formulation and application of the policies that affect their wellbeing, either on an individual basis or by means of association.
6. To decide, when they are able, on the guardianship of his/her person and properties, in the event of loss of their self-governing ability.
7. To decide freely on whether or not to enter a residential centre. 
8. To fully exercise their jurisdictional rights and in the event of involuntary internment, guaranteeing a contradictory process.
9. To fully exercise their patrimonial rights.
10. To initiate the administrative and jurisdictional actions to defend the right that is acknowledged by this Act in item 1 of this article. In the case of minors or people that have been legally incapacitated, those that exercise custody or are the legal representatives shall be legitimised to act on their behalf.
11. To equal opportunities, non-discrimination and universal  accessibility, in any of the spheres of implementation and application of this Act.
12. Not to suffer discrimination for reasons of sexual orientation or identity.

3. The public powers shall adopt the necessary measures in order to promote and guarantee respect for the rights listed in the above paragraphs, without further limitations on the exercise of such rights than those that are directly derived from their lack of ability to act that is determined by the dependency.

4. The dependent persons and, where applicable, their family members or representatives, as well as the help centres, shall be obliged to supply all of the information and data that is requested of them by the competent Administrations, for the purposes of assessing the degree and level of dependency; to notify all of the forms of personalised care that they receive and to apply the financial benefits for the purposes for which they were granted; or to any other obligation foreseen in standing legislation.

The dependent persons and, where applicable, their family members or representatives shall not be obliged to provide information, data or documentation that is already in the possession of the Public Administration making the request or which, in accordance with standing legislation, the latter may obtain by its own means.

Article 5. Rights holders.

1. Spanish people that comply with the following requirements shall be entitled to the rights laid down in this Act:

1. Those in a situation of dependency in any of the established degrees.
2. The terms of the thirteenth additional provision shall apply in the case of minors under the age of three years.
3. Those that reside in Spanish territory and have done so for five years, of which two must be immediately prior to the date on which the application is presented. For minors under the age of five years, the residence period must be complied with by the person that has guardianship and custody of the minor. 

2. Those that despite having met the aforementioned requirements do not have Spanish nationality shall be governed by the terms of Organic Law 4/2000, of 11th January, on the rights and duties of foreigners in Spain and on their social integration, in the international treaties and conventions that are established with the country of origin. For minors that do not have Spanish nationality, the terms of the standing Legislation on Minors shall apply, both at State and Autonomous Community levels and in international treaties.

3. The Government may establish protection measures to benefit spaniards that do not reside in Spain.

4. Following agreement by the Territorial Council of the System for Autonomy and Care for Dependency, the Government shall establish the conditions governing access to the System of Care for Dependency that shall apply to returned Spanish emigrants.