The streets of central Madrid were filled this Saturday with demonstrators, summoned by the Marea de Residencias association, to demand “justice, investigation and non-repetition” of what happened during the first wave of the covid pandemic in Community residences. of Madrid, where 7,291 people died without being hospitalized.
The march started at midday from Madrid City Hall, in the Plaza de Cibeles, and ran through the streets of the center of the capital to the Presidency of the Community of Madrid, at Puerta del Sol last year. A similar demonstration had already taken place. held on the same dates.
The main demand is “to obtain justice for the dead and reparation for the living”, as transmitted by the association in the announcement of the appeal. In addition, the demonstrators demand that responsibilities be taken and that the “perverse” management carried out at the time by the autonomous government of Isabel Díaz Ayuso be recognized, which they accuse of having caused an “unprecedented massacre based on the discrimination of people who “lived”. in residences. »
A law on residences is also requested, which guarantees “a dignified life for institutionalized people thanks to a broad provision of resources, both human and material”, and working conditions “in accordance with the important work carried out by the staff dedicated to care “. .
More Madrid and the PSOE demand the broadcast of the documentary ‘7291’ on Telemadrid
The spokesperson for Más Madrid in the Assembly, Manuela Bergerot, and the spokesperson for the PSOE at the City Hall of the capital, Reyes Maroto, attended the demonstration this Saturday, where they demanded that Telemadrid broadcast ‘7291 ‘, a documentary directed by Juanjo Castro which talks about the deaths in nursing homes in the region during the pandemic.
In statements to the media during the protest calling for investigations into what happened in 2020, the two leaders accused “political interference in Madrid’s public television to prevent the broadcast of the report.” This march coincides precisely with the theatrical screening of the documentary “7291”, which combines the voices of center workers with those of representatives of different associations, journalists and politicians, and with testimonies from relatives of the deceased.
Bergerot stressed that the Community of Madrid “is hindering the distribution of the film, as well as all the issues that concern the president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso.” “She is stealing from us the parliamentary debate on issues like the 7,291 victims in the residences, or the Quirón group, or the commissions that her boyfriend, Alberto González Amador, takes,” he denounced.
According to the leader of Más Madrid, the regional government uses “a scroll on the table of the Assembly so that nothing is said on this subject” and prevents experts from appearing in commissions of inquiry. Bergerot believes that it is important to “keep the memory of what happened alive” by any means possible. “A very good tool would be for the Public Television of all Madrilenians to broadcast this documentary,” he concluded.
For his part, Maroto stressed that “Telemadrid responds to the interests of the Community of Madrid” and that the president of the Community “wants to hide the deaths of 7,291 victims because of his protocols of shame.” “When it is Madrid society that demands truth and reparation, it is silent. This is what Telemadrid is currently doing with a request from Madrid society so that the truth is known,” he insisted.
The socialist spokesperson defended the importance of mobilizations in the streets of Madrid as a way to keep alive the memory of what happened and to demand justice. “It is very important to be in the streets of Madrid today, so that what happened is not forgotten, so that it is repaired and, above all, so that the truth is known,” he said. -he emphasized.
Complaint to the Prosecutor’s Office
This protest is part of multiple actions carried out in recent months by Marea de Residencias and other related associations. This Thursday they filed a complaint with the Superior Prosecutor’s Office of Madrid for the “discrimination suffered” during covid-19, in which 7,291 residents died without being referred to a hospital in the Community of Madrid.
In mid-October, “Marea de Résidences” and “7291: Truth and Justice” filed a new joint complaint with the Madrid Superior Prosecutor’s Office for the “discrimination suffered” during the pandemic. The complaint was filed by 108 relatives of 115 residents who lived in 72 different residences in the area and included “unpublished documents” such as “internal government reports that reflected the situation in which the retirement homes found themselves,” according to the spokespersons for the platforms. So far, justice has closed all the proceedings initiated since no crime has been committed in relation to the resident referral protocols.
