«Who now compensates for the significant harm inflicted upon Santa Rita, the largest care home in Spain? This question is posed by Tomás Villar, president of the Santa Rita Hogar Foundation in Puerto de la Cruz, after receiving the long-awaited news. The Provincial Court of Santa Cruz de Tenerife has officially announced the case against the elderly residence known as Hogar Santa Rita has been definitively closed following allegations of serious irregularities in care during the Covid pandemic, which have now been entirely dismissed.
In fact, the investigation into Santa Rita home, which currently accommodates 470 residents out of a potential 600, was dismissed nearly a year ago on March 20, 2024, by the Court of Instruction number 2 of Puerto de la Cruz. However, it is now in a document signed on January 21, which has come to light, when the Provincial Court confirmed the case closure due to the absence of any appeals and no evidence found of criminal activity.
Tomás Villar has awaited four years to receive this confirmation, during which he has felt a «profound sense of helplessness and frustration» as Santa Rita has endured various accusations, ranging from neglect of the elderly during the pandemic to allegations concerning inadequate care for some residents.
«Justice has established that everything was fabricated, but the damage is irrevocable,» he laments, representing a care home that was established in 1991 through the efforts of priest Antonio María Hernández (La Orotava, 1936; Puerto de la Cruz, 2011). He is more widely known in Tenerife as Father Antonio, famous for fundraising by selling pieces of sky to local residents in order to establish this significant facility.
Tomás Villar, president of the Santa Rita Hogar Foundation, at the Senior Centre facilities. / Arturo Jiménez
According to Judge Íñigo Herrero, head of the Court of Instruction number 2 of Puerto de la Cruz, the management of the centre acted appropriately to care for their residents, ruling out any irregularities or criminal conduct, such as reckless homicide, which was previously considered during the investigation that has now resulted in the dismissal against Tomás Villar.
The situation began in December 2020, nine months after the state of emergency due to the Covid-19 pandemic was declared in Spain. Prior to this period, Santa Rita was seen as a model institution, and numerous families from Tenerife wished to entrust their elderly relatives to Father Antonio’s foundation. Even in the initial ten months of the pandemic, the centre did not record any significant incidents despite the challenges posed by managing such a serious health crisis with vulnerable residents.
However, everything began to shift in that grim December of 2020. The La Candelaria University Hospital, one of Tenerife’s principal healthcare facilities, sent a support team to Santa Rita after noticing a purported spike in COVID-19 cases during routine checks. Subsequently, the management of Candelaria prepared a report highlighting issues of malnutrition and dehydration, a scabies outbreak, and a general service that was described as “very poor”.
This report, containing alarming findings, reached the Prosecutor’s Office of the Provincial Court, leading to the initiation of an investigation, mirroring actions taken by prosecutors across other Spanish provinces regarding different care homes. During health inspections conducted on December 3 and 4, 2020, a total of 80 infected residents were identified.
Facilities of the Santa Rita Hogar de Puerto de la Cruz, the largest care home in Spain. / Arturo Jiménez
Consequently, the public health authorities of the Canary Islands government agreed to intervene in Santa Rita, leading to the University Hospital of La Candelaria assuming oversight on December 8, 2020, a role that continued until February 2021 with a team regularly visiting the care home.
After assessing the medical reports from La Candelaria and gathering additional information, the Public Ministry determined to file a complaint regarding alleged irregularities in December 2021, directing its allegations towards the highest authority at Santa Rita, Tomás Villar.
This was announced by the then Chief Prosecutor of the Provincial Court of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, María Farnés Martínez, during an interview with the SER network in Tenerife on December 10, 2021. As she elaborated, “investigation proceedings were initiated by a dedicated civil prosecutor’s section focused specifically on older individuals and care homes.”
The Prosecutor’s Office highlighted a widespread failure in practices: Absence of emergency protocols, lack of infection control measures, insufficient human and material resources to manage such an extreme situation… all incumbent upon Tomás Villar, the president of the Santa Rita Foundation. However, it did not delve into other issues raised by the Candelaria management, such as the alleged malnutrition, dehydration, and scabies outbreak.
Nevertheless, reports regarding the supposed substandard conditions at Santa Rita, including allegations of serious breaches of care, began surfacing in the media in the summer of 2021, before the Prosecutor’s Office had publicly confirmed the investigation. The case garnered substantial media attention, coinciding with other indications of irregularities in elder care homes throughout the country.
Facilities of the Santa Rita Hogar de Puerto de la Cruz. / Arturo Jiménez
The judge in Puerto de la Cruz, who received the case, initiated investigations. She called upon to interrogate both the foundation’s management and staff from Santa Rita and La Candelaria. The conclusions that led to the exclusion of irregularities are compelling: “Based on the practices conducted, it cannot be concluded that there was a failure to meet the obligations required of Santa Rita.”
In the March 2024 ruling, Judge Íñigo Herrero asserted that «no evidence of reckless behaviour has been found as the investigated [Tomás Villar] complied with the obligations stipulated in applicable legal norms». The ruling continues, «the deficiencies highlighted by the Prosecutor’s Office concerning measures to prevent COVID-19 infections that subsequently led to the deaths of several residents have not been substantiated. Procedures concerning masks, protocols for isolation and sectorisation, as well as regulations regarding visits and departures, were adhered to as per the conditions required at the time,” the judge explains.
The magistrate also emphasises that Santa Rita’s management «adhered to public health guidelines as well as current regulations», leading him to conclude that “there is no reasonable evidence indicating the commission of any crime related to the management of the centre during the specified time frame as suggested by the Prosecutor’s Office.” “The provisional dismissal and closure of the current case are therefore agreed upon,” concludes the order, issued 11 months ago and finalised on January 21, 2025, by the Provincial Court. In simpler terms, justice has closed the case without it ever going to trial.
