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Accepted Paper:
Elderly rights and the nursing home crisis in Spain during the pandemic: claims for justice and politicization of care
Silvia Bofill-Poch
(University of Barcelona)
Raúl Márquez Porras
(University of Barcelona)
This paper analyses popular claims for justice that raised out of the nursing home crisis in Spain, with a high number of deaths. Rage and indignation became powerful motivations for some relatives to demand legal and public responsibilities, leading to the politicization of conflict and care.
Paper long abstract:
In Spain, the impact of Covid-19 has been very pronounced, and residential settings have been one of the most conflictive environments with the highest number of deaths. In this context, the relatives of elderly people who died in nursing homes have organized themselves in civil platforms to claim rights and ask for justice. The government's guidelines not to refer sick elderly people to hospitals cause a special indignation, but also unplanned closure of the centres or degrading mortuary treatments. They alleged discriminatory treatment of the elderly and violation of fundamental rights, and show the effects of long-lasting processes of disinvestment on public care services, as well as trends towards privatization. They urge the government to lead changes that guarantee decent care for the elderly and to revert a system of care based on deep social inequalities and asymmetric power relations. At this point, rage and indignation became powerful motivations for some relatives to ask for legal and public responsibilities, leading to the politicization of conflict and care.