There has been a relative lack of research examing the distribution of care to elderly dependent people in Spain. The aim of this paper is to analyse how formal and informal care is provided to elderly dependent people in Spain and to assess the socio-economic conditions in which the different kinds of care emerge. This study is based on a sample of the elderly dependent population selected from those who reported the need of care in the 2003 Spanish Health Survey. The distribution of care among older people was cross-tabulated to identify the type of care, while regression models were used to identify the socio-economic characteristics of people receiving formal and/or informal care. Around 7.5% of the elderly people who need care do not receive it. Among those who do receive it, 89.4% receive informal care, 14.8% private care and 8.1% public care. 11.9% of elderly people in the study receive a mix of formal an informal care. Elderly people living in households in which the monthly income exceeds EUR 900 are five times more likely than people living in households in which the monthly income is less than EUR 600 to receive private care instead of public care. People older than 84 years are six times more likely to receive public care than people aged between 65 and 74. Men are two times more likely than women to receive exclusively informal care. Women are three times more likely than men to receive both kinds of care simultaneously. Formal care complements informal care. Private care is more common than public care. Men, people living in larger-sized households, and people with fewer socio-economic resources are more likely to receive informal care.