The Provincial Deputy for Social Action of Bizkaia, Amaia Antxustegi, appeared this Thursday before the Social Action Commission of the General Assemblies to present the conclusions of the inspection carried out at the Tabira Berri residence, in Durango. As a result of this review, a sanctioning file has been initiated against the center for "relevant" infractions.
Antxustegi's appearance is part of the commitment she made on April 27 to publicly report once the definitive technical and legal reports were available, as the Provincial Chamber itself recalled.
The control procedure at Tabira Berri began on March 26, with an unannounced inspection visit carried out the following day. After the final report, issued on April 29, and a subsequent verification report dated May 28, the Provincial Council has sent the file to the competent sanctioning body, having found non-compliance that has not been fully corrected.
In the personnel section, the inspection verified that, despite respecting the ratios, a direct care worker lacked the required professional qualification, a situation that remains unresolved. Problems were also detected in internal organization, with assigned tasks that did not fit the professional profile, such as the preparation of medication by auxiliary staff.
Regarding food, discrepancies were observed in the number of menus served, with only eight menus for an occupancy of between 13 and 14 people for dinners and during weekends. On the other hand, no violations of regulations were found in the area of hygiene and care. Minor maintenance and safety deficiencies, such as accessibility to fire extinguishers or cleaning products, were resolved immediately during the inspection itself.
Antxustegi specified that, in accordance with the Social Services Law of Euskadi, the detected behaviors do not reach the level of being classified as "very serious," as no direct harm or degrading treatment towards users has occurred, but they are considered "relevant" to the quality of care.
The provincial official has emphasized that the opening of the disciplinary file demonstrates that "the control systems work and protect the resident persons". "The existence of a file does not discredit the system, it proves that it controls it and that the controls work," she added, insisting that inspections are carried out without prior notice.
The opposition groups have recalled that the residence has accumulated "serious" complaints from relatives since the year 2024. Eneritz de Madariaga Martín, spokesperson for the Mixed-Elkarrekin Bizkaia group, has expressed her concern about the fact that these dysfunctions have been identified two years after the first complaints, and has cast doubt on whether the center's management adequately manages other resources under its responsibility.
Along the same lines, the spokesperson for the Popular Vizcaíno group, Raquel González Diez-Andino, has described the internal organization as an "absolute chaos" and has warned that the current sanctioning model does not correct the underlying problems, suggesting that it is more bearable for certain entities to pay fines than to address the necessary improvements.
For his part, the representative of EH Bildu, Urtzi Ostolozaga Arrien, has questioned a care model that he considers "exhausted" and "mercantilist," emphasizing that the precariousness of the working conditions of the care staff directly affects the well-being of the resident persons.
Provincial Decrees on Disability
In the same session, the Deputy of Social Action intervened at the request of the Popular Vizcaíno group to clarify the content of provincial decrees 28/2026 and 29/2026, which regulate access and public prices for resources intended for people with disabilities.
The popular spokesperson, Raquel González Díez-Andino, has pointed out that these provisions have generated "social alarm" by introducing changes that she considers "substantial," including the Administration's power to carry out official transfers without the prior agreement of the user, the setting of the age of stay in disability centers between 18 and 64 years, and the modification of the co-payment system.
Faced with these criticisms, Antxustegi has defended that the decrees aim to provide the system with "greater legal certainty, coherence, and equity" in the long term, with the objective of correcting "historical inequalities" and ensuring that support is rigorously adjusted to the evolution of needs and the different life stages of each person.
"They are not the result of a circumstantial or improvised decision, but rather respond to a roadmap, already defined in the Plan for the participation and quality of life of people with disabilities in Bizkaia," he indicated.
Regarding involuntary transfers, he provided data to emphasize their "exceptional" nature: of more than 250 transfers carried out in recent years, "less than 2%" were carried out involuntarily.
In relation to co-payments, he specified that for residential places, individual economic capacity remains the reference, while the mention of the family unit in day centers aims to avoid "unjustified inequalities."
Likewise, he defended the payment of the place during hospital stays as a way to ensure the reservation of the resource and the continuity of support. Regarding the age limit, he presented it as an "adaptation to the life stage" and not as an exclusion, guaranteeing planned transitions to dependency resources.
González Díez-Andino responded that truly individualized care is not guaranteed through "imposed" transfers and warned that, according to his calculations, the co-payment could double in certain cases.
The popular spokesperson reproached that the regulation had been drafted "from offices" without taking into account the real situation of families, and denounced that what the Provincial Council interprets as "duplications" in services constitutes, for professionals and families, an essential "complementarity." She finally asked the deputy to rectify the aspects that are causing concern in the sector before their final application.
Irregularities at IFAS
The commission also addressed the possible irregularities detected in four selection processes for employment pools at the Foral Institute of Social Assistance (IFAS).
At the request of Arantza Sarasola, EH Bildu representative, the provincial deputy has given explanations about the disciplinary proceedings opened after it became known that several members of an evaluation committee were related to candidate individuals.
According to the abertzale coalition, these facts violate the legal obligation of abstention that governs those who are part of selection tribunals in this type of process.
Antxustegi has explained that the IFAS became aware of these incidents on June 10, specifically in the personnel pools for janitorial staff, maintenance assistants, and cleaning maids.
The deputy has highlighted that the reaction was "immediate, diligent, and responsible," proceeding to suspend the affected processes to safeguard legal certainty.
Among the decisions adopted, the individuals involved, who "are not public officials," have been immediately removed from the evaluation committees, and it has been decided to repeat the evaluations with new members in those processes where provisional lists had already been published.