Isabel Blanco, Vice President and Minister of Family and Equal Opportunities, has sponsored the graduates of the 2024-2025 course linked to the Miguel de Cervantes European University, where she announced a 10% increase in program funding, the creation of 600 positions, and the addition of three new online sites.
May 28, 2025
Castilla y León | Ministry of Family and Equal Opportunities
Promoting active aging is a commitment of the Government and its president to the nearly 643,000 people over 65 years old living in the Community, an area that continues to prioritize with the goal of improving the quality of life of this broad collective. One of the most successful initiatives with a high degree of satisfaction promoted by the Ministry of Family and Equal Opportunities is the ‘Interuniversity Program of Experience.’ An initiative that year after year continues to break records and that the regional government, in collaboration with the eight universities of Castilla y León, continues to reinforce.
The success is demonstrated by the figures achieved during the 2024-2025 course, which was closed by the Vice President and Minister of Family and Equal Opportunities, Isabel Blanco, at the Miguel de Cervantes European University in Valladolid. The number two of the regional government served as a godmother to the recent graduates and announced the future investments of the Government in this program, which will continue to grow quantitatively and qualitatively.
This course that is ending has had 6,139 enrolled students, which represents a 10.7% increase from the previous one, with an increase of 594 students, 520 in the face-to-face modality. In fact, of that total, 5,848 have registered to attend classes physically, while the remaining 291 have studied at one of the 15 online sites. This year, the sites of Alba de Tormes (Salamanca), Ólvega (Soria), and Nava de la Asunción (Segovia) have been added to this digital modality. The rest, 27, are face-to-face sites located in 24 localities, 15 of them in municipalities different from the provincial capitals.
In this program, seven out of ten students are women and 46% of the total are between 60 and 70 years old, while 28% are between 70 and 80 years old. It is an initiative with a very high level of satisfaction. While the enrollment figures speak for themselves, surveys conducted at the end of the course reflect that 91% of students are very satisfied and practically 100% would recommend it to others. It is worth remembering that, last year, Isabel Blanco received the Senda Award for the Best Public Initiative for the ‘Interuniversity Program of Experience.’
The Vice President and Minister of Family and Equal Opportunities announced at the UEMC —which manages the sites of Medina de Rioseco and Medina del Campo in the province of Valladolid— that the Government will continue to make improvements and strengthen the program next year through a 10% increase in funding to €320,821. In this way, the number of positions will be increased by 600 and three new online sites will be incorporated, as well as eight new training itineraries in five universities.
In addition to congratulating the recent graduates, Isabel Blanco recognized the work of the eight universities of Castilla y León and stated that the program is a model of coordination among the institutions involved and a great example of best practice. She added that their participation is a demonstration of what the university should be, a source of lifelong learning.
This initiative not only promotes access to knowledge for those over 55 years old but also fosters social relationships and is a key tool in combating unwanted loneliness, especially for older people in general and those living in rural areas in particular. In fact, to reach those living in the smallest municipalities with a limited number of enrollees, the interactive online modality was created, where students also have access to a physical classroom near their place of residence —day care centers of the Social Services Agency or premises provided by municipalities— for them to attend participatory online classes with the teacher, in order to maintain contact with their peers.
Active Aging
The ‘Interuniversity Program of Experience,’ which has been operating continuously since 1993, is one of the initiatives integrated into the ‘Comprehensive Active Aging Program’ of the Ministry of Family and Equal Opportunities, which aims to enable older people to have an active life, continue to take care of themselves physically and emotionally, and avoid social isolation.
A program that highlights the ‘Club of the 60s,’ with 353,000 members, where a large number of activities are held, including travel programs, thermalism, or intergenerational approaches —where older people and young university students live together. We must also mention the ‘Promotion Program of Associationism in Rural Areas,’ which supports more than 1,900 associations of retirees and pensioners, and all the activities organized in collaboration with the Regional Network of Retirees and Pensioners of Castilla y León or those held in the Ministry’s own centers of Family and Equal Opportunities.
It is worth noting the launch of the renewed ‘Carné 60 CyL,’ whose objective is to allow those over 60 years old to access services, activities, events, products, or businesses of any kind on advantageous terms, and to which more than 700 establishments have already joined.
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