The president of the Xunta, Alfonso Rueda, highlighted today that Galicia has seven of the best nursing homes in the world thanks to the collaboration between the regional government and the Amancio Ortega Foundation (FAO). He did this, together with the president of this entity, Flora Pérez Marcote, and the Minister of Social Policy and Youth, Fabiola GarcÃa, during the delivery of the first of these centers: the one in Santiago de Compostela.
This new residence, fully financed in its construction and equipment by FAO, delivered turnkey to the Xunta to integrate into the public network, It has 120 beds—distributed in 42 single rooms and 39 doubles—special care areas—a therapy room and medical consultation—and dining services, podiatry, laundry or hair salon, etc. An example of the center’s avant-garde attitude is the psychogeriatric units it has for the care of people with Alzheimer’s and other dementias. With this new center, more than 15,000 people in Galicia now have public spaces, more than triple the number in 2009.
The center of Santiago de Compostela, implemented according to the model created by Elsa Urquijo Arquitectos, is one of the first seven to be sent to the regional public network, according to the agreement signed on November 13, 2019 by the Xunta de Galicia. In total, FAO’s contribution to the project is 180 million euros, higher than the amount originally planned due to the quality of the construction project and the avant-garde nature of the equipment installed. In the cities of Lugo, A Coruña, Pontevedra, and Ferrol, the construction work is in full progress, and the settlements of Ourense and Vigo are in the stages of city planning processing.
Therefore, FAO has invested nearly 25 million euros in the construction and equipment of this center in Santiago, for which the Xunta has allocated an allocation of 400,000 euros for the development of the space where the building is located, in the neighborhood of Castiñeiriño. Rueda appreciated the “commitment, involvement, and dedication” of the Amancio Ortega Foundation in the social field, which translates into projects such as the seven public residences they will build—to expand the areas of the regional public network by 900—the nursery school sponsored by the eight town councils, or the intergenerational centers of Ourense and Arteixo.
Foundation
The Amancio Ortega Gaona Foundation develops its actions in the basic areas of social welfare: education, health, and the development of care services for the most vulnerable people.
In addition to the project of comprehensive care centers for the elderly and the 9 nursery schools given to the Xunta, over the years FAO facilitated the creation, among others, of the Proyecto Hombre headquarters in Galicia and the comprehensive care center of AMENCER in Vigo, the ASPACE Training Center, and the Comprehensive Social Assistance Center of the Royal Social Charitable Institution Padre Rubinos, both of these in the province of A Coruña.
Xunta’s commitment to the elderly
The president assured that the regional government shares this commitment to care and improve the quality of life of the elderly, which is shown by the fact that in the 2024 budget, the highest in the history of Galicia, the area of ​​social policies “will receive more resources than before” with more than 1.3 billion euros.
Along these lines, Rueda emphasized that the Xunta is working so that the elderly can freely choose how to live this new phase of life. For this reason, as announced in the General Policy Debate, the Government of Galicia will strengthen support in 2024 for the elderly, those in need of care and those in good health and with full autonomy: that is the universal bonus 5,000 euros per year for all dependent people who are cared for at home, the complement of 1,200 euros for those who have a voucher to co-finance the residential center of their choice and the Carné 65, with discounts for seniors in establishments, services or entertainment.
