Getafe City Council has reached an agreement with the Community of Madrid to provide 60 contracted places at the new Almendro Day Centre, which will open in the first quarter of 2027. The municipal investment in equipment amounts to 200,000 euros.
The Getafe City Council has successfully secured 60 contracted places for the new Almendro Day Centre, a building with a capacity for 70 users. The agreement was reached after a negotiation process with the General Directorate of Seniors and Dependency of the Community of Madrid, which initially only considered 35 places.
The mayor of Getafe, Sara Hernández, explained the effort made:
We fought for every place because the Community of Madrid only offered us 35, but the residents of Getafe deserve more. To date, the regional investment has been 0 euros both in the construction of the building and in its equipment. Nevertheless, the Community will not finance the entirety of these 60 places, as their agreements are completely outdated and do not reflect real costs. It will be the City Council that assumes the rest of the cost with its own funds.
The centre, which is expected to open in the first quarter of 2027, is in the phase of material and technological provision. Getafe allocates 200,000 euros from its own budget and European funds for supplies, multisensory rooms, physiotherapy materials, and physical and cognitive rehabilitation technology.
The annual operating budget will be around one million euros, combining co-financing from both administrations and user co-payments in the dining room. The staff will consist of 30 professionals, including psychologists, physiotherapists, social workers, nursing staff, socio-cultural animators, and route drivers, with adapted transport service.
The building will distribute its uses in a versatile manner. The ground floor and first floor will host the Day Centre with continuous hours from 8:00 to 18:30. The second floor, every day, and the ground and first floors on weekends and evenings outside of assistance hours, will be allocated to municipal dynamisation programmes for elderly people, with a specific area for supporting caregiver families.
The project is based on the model of Person-Centred Integrated Care (ACP), which organises support around the user’s life project. Each person will have a Personal Care Plan and life project support (PAV), with flexible interdisciplinary assessments and participation from the person and their family members.
The mayor has demanded that the Community of Madrid update its regulatory framework:
The current regional regulations prevent people who are not strictly users of the day centre from using its facilities or dining room. We ask that the regulations be adapted so that this space does not function as an isolated bunker, but allows the dining service to open and share joint activities with the neighbouring residents, especially from the San Isidro, Centro, and La Alhóndiga neighbourhoods.
The local government does not give up on reaching 70 places in the future. The centre is expected to open in the first quarter of 2027.
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