In this episode, we are joined by Dr. David Palomera, a Marie Curie-Cofund Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Political Science and Public Management at the University of Southern Denmark. Holding a PhD in Public Policy from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, David’s research focuses on welfare state and political economy transformations, with particular attention to social care and sustainability. He has published widely in public policy and social policy journals, is part of the Transforming Care Network management team, and works with multiple associations to generate public policy impact from his research.David takes us through the financialization of elder care in Spain, tracing its origins in the outsourcing of services during the 1990s, the expansion of access through the 2006 Dependency Law, and the entry of private equity funds and construction companies following the 2008 financial crisis. He explains how financial actors have reshaped the sector through strategies such as buy-and-leaseback schemes, fiscal engineering, offshore tax practices, and internal debt loading. We then turn to the social consequences of this financial model: declining wages and precarious employment for care workers, reduced staffing levels, and deteriorating care quality as profit is prioritized over people’s well-being. At the same time, David highlights alternative approaches that point toward a different future—community-based care homes, self-managed teams, and publicly or cooperatively owned systems, with examples like Buurtzorg in the Netherlands and Barcelona’s Villa Veïna.Tune in as we discuss how elder care has been transformed into a vehicle for financial profit, and why reimagining care as a democratic, socially owned practice is essential to restoring dignity and justice in aging societies.

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