Spanish judge clears Madrid region, blames state for care home deaths

Spanish judge clears Madrid region, blames state for care home deaths

On September 15, 2020, Judge Mónica Boticario of Leganés Court No. 5 rejected an investigation into a complaint filed by eleven families against the Community of Madrid regarding care home management during the first wave of the pandemic. The ruling, reported by Vozpópuli, not only exonerated President Isabel Díaz Ayuso but directly pointed to the central government: "nor did the Spanish State, the supreme authority on the matter since the declaration of the State of Alarm on March 14, 2020, guarantee those supplies." The decision triggered political turmoil and sparked a debate over ultimate responsibility for deaths in nursing homes.

The ruling that changed the narrative: from Ayuso to the State

The complaint, filed on May 28, 2020, by relatives of elderly people who died in Leganés care homes, accused the Community of Madrid and several councilors of "reckless homicide, reckless injury, failure to render aid, and degrading treatment." Judge Boticario dismissed it, arguing that the complainants relied on "conjectures" and that there were no "rational indications of incivil." Her central argument was that Elbichito-19 was "a new disease about which little or nothing was known in March" and that the lack of protective materials was "a state deficiency."

The ruling went further, recalling "the controversy surrounding the purchase of mass tests from a Chinese company that later proved inadequate." This was a direct jab at the management of the Ministry of Health, then led by Salvador Illa, and the Podemos faction, with Pablo Iglesias as Second Vice President. The judge placed ultimate responsibility on the State, "the supreme authority on the matter since the declaration of the State of Alarm."

The 'single command' and the battle over competencies

The core of the legal conflict was who held jurisdiction over care homes during the state of alarm. The Royal Decree of March 14, 2020, established that "all civil authorities of Public Administrations in the national territory, and particularly health authorities, remain under the direct orders of the Minister of Health." This "single command" was the argument used by Ayuso's defense and several judges to shift responsibility to the central government.

However, the interpretation was not unanimous. Some argue that autonomous communities retained ordinary management of centers and that the single command referred to health coordination, not daily operations of care homes. Pablo Iglesias himself declared he assumed responsibility, though the scope of this assumption never became clear. The Leganés judge, conversely, opted for the thesis that the shortage of materials was a state issue.

Other rulings and the domino effect in regions

The Leganés ruling was not an isolated case. In Extremadura, a court in Cáceres ruled that since the decree of alarm, competencies belonged to the State rather than the region, trinc a complaint by relatives of elderly people against the regional government. That decision supported the thesis that the Ministry of Health bore ultimate responsibility. In Madrid, the Provincial Court dismissed an appeal by the Marea de Residencias platform regarding two deaths in Parla nursing homes, again siding with Ayuso's government.

The paradox was evident: if responsibility lay with the State, all autonomous communities were exonerated, including those governed by the PSOE. If it lay with the regions, the focus fell on Madrid. The Leganés judge chose the former path, opening a front the central government did not expect.

Political reaction: from euphoria to caution

The news was received with satisfaction in Ayuso's circle, which had spent months defending that care home management had been the victim of a political campaign. The Madrid president had even launched "112 Okupación" and attacked Sánchez for "control of the Judiciary, TVE, and CIS." The judicial ruling seemed to give her ammunition.

On the opposite side, silence prevailed. The Prosecutor's Office had already requested dismissal of the case against the Government, and the Leganés ruling could serve as precedent for the Supreme Court. Opposition to Ayuso clung to the fact that the judge had not assessed the merits, only the lack of evidence, and that the complaint came from families ideologically close to PSOE and Podemos, according to sources familiar with the case.

The background: deaths, elections, and narrative

The underlying debate was uncomfortable: could a regional government be blamed for massive deaths in care homes when the State had assumed single command? Or was it an excuse to dodge responsibility? Data on deaths in nursing homes during the first wave were devastating across Spain, but the politicization of the issue turned tragedy into a weapon.

Judge Boticario did not close the case against the Government; she only rejected the complaint against the Community of Madrid. The Supreme Court still had to rule on the dismissal requested by the Prosecutor's Office. Meanwhile, the families of the deceased were left in limbo: without judicial accountability and amid a political debate that used them as flags.

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The Leganés ruling left a question hanging: if the State was ultimately responsible, why did no one end up in the dock? Three years later, the answer remained the same: politics had consumed grief.