In Manresa, like many other places, the rate of aging is growing and there is a lack of residence places. It is something that the City Council itself recognizes and that the platform in defense of the elderly has been demanding for a long time. However, in the city there is a new residence with 195 places. It was built before the pandemic and it has been finished for a year now, but empty because the property, multinational Orpea, has failed and is now in the hands of the French government.
The City Council believes that the building has become “obsolete” because it is not the model they want. First, because it is a macro building and now they are committed to small units of coexistence and, second, because the squares are private and they believe that what they need are more public squares.
The geriatric residence with 195 private beds “is of great concern” to the Manresa City Council, which does not want it to remain in disuse and without operation. In this sense, the councilor of Drets Socials, Mariona Homs, assures that the situation is “complicated” because the equipment has become “obsolete” before opening doors because it was projected before the covid-19 pandemic “much larger than expected”. that, after the pandemic, it has been seen that they need the services ”.
“The problem with this type of equipment is that, at the time it was made, they did not ask to see if there is demand. What is clear is that the city does not lack private places, what it needs are concerted places. There are many beds, but first all the places that exist should be arranged, ”says Homs.
In this sense, he has ensured that the City Council is “broadcasting” to find out what the company’s position is: “If Orpea wants to put the residence into operation or wants to make some other use”. Homs explains that “at the moment the price is exorbitant and does not fall within the City Council’s plans, “but there are other sectors that may be interested.”
From the Manresa Platform in defense of the elderly, its coordinator, Víctor Feliu, is also opposed to this type of residence model. But he stresses the need for more public spaces in the city, since he assures that the waiting list in the capital of Bages is two years and there are people who have to leave the city because they cannot find a place here
In this sense, Feliu is committed to the residence that has to be built in the Xup neighborhood, where a private person ceded land to the City Council on the condition that it become a public residence. From the City Hall, Homs says that, before building it, it must be certain that the places will be arranged.
According to the City Council, in Manresa they need between 20 and 30 public spaces in the short term, and between 60 and 100 in the next four years.
