The Canary Islands have a deficit of 8,075 places in residences for the elderly. This was highlighted by the report of the Association of Directors and Managers in Social Services, presented at the beginning of the year, which states that this would be the ideal figure to reach the ratio of five for every 100 people over 65 years of age.
Being aware of this need and given the experience in the sector of one of the three partners that make up the company Ecoresidencias Gerontalia, an entity with 100% Canarian capital, they decided to bet and acquire the property in which the old Tierra hotel was located. de Oro, four stars, located in the residential area of La Cartaya, in The Realejosto convert it into a residence for the elderly that will bear the same name.
After many years of management in which it earned a well-deserved prestige for having a heated spa, its facilities were renovated in 2007 with 50 rooms distributed over three floors. Guests had at their disposal a lobby with 24-hour reception, cafeteria, restaurant, bar, hairdressing salon and conference facilities.
However, the establishment failed to get off the ground and was forced to close.
The three partners decided to acquire the property and in 2020 work began to have fully accessible and quality facilities that would accommodate 99 residential beds and 26 daytime beds.
The reform has been 90%, only the structure was maintained. The jobs, pandemic involved, are coming to an end, since the idea is that it opens its doors at the beginning of next month. At the moment it will be private, but they do not rule out that in the future some places may be arranged.
They even advance, there is interest from the Canary Islands Health Service and the Institute of Social and Socio-Health Care (IASS) to do it, “but that will be left for next year,” says one of the owners, Iván Márquez.
With the residence running, between 60 and 70 jobs will be created among doctors, nurses, cooks, cleaning staff, speech therapists, social integrators, physiotherapists, maintenance and administrative staff.
Given the large number of free spaces and green areas that the property has and its proximity to a rural environment, the mentors of the project considered that the ideal thing was to give it an eco-sustainable approach, with a plus of investment in this sense, both in the construction itself, betting on renewable energy, energy saving, water and air conditioning, as well as future residential management, with the purchase of environmentally friendly products for cleaning and agricultural self-production.
The idea of the company is to acquire some plots adjacent to the residence to install organic gardens that are used for the consumption of the center and that are cared for by those residents who can and want to dedicate themselves to these jobs.
The ultimate goal is to try to flee from the hospital and clinical model that proved to be ineffective during the pandemic, in favor of a more comfortable, close and home-like model that provides a better quality of life.
