A family from Arrecife has reported the alleged situation of abandonment and mistreatment that a 91-year-old elderly man suffers in a vulnerable situation with neurocognitive loss by one of his sons with whom he has lived for two decades.
The man, who requires the permanent attention of a professional, cannot use common areas of his own home, such as the kitchen or bathroom, nor can he shower with hot water because his son allegedly prevents him from doing so.
The case is open and in the hands of Court Number 2 of the Court of First Instance of Arrecife, which is investigating the complaint filed by the family. Initially, this same court had ordered the provisional dismissal of the case, relying on a report from the Public Prosecutor's Office.
During the initial investigation, the Public Prosecutor's Office stated that the facts did not have "sufficient substance" to be prosecuted as a criminal offense, although it may be "a highly reprehensible conduct, socially and morally." After appealing the dismissal, the Provincial Court of Las Palmas ordered the Court of First Instance to reopen the investigation. In its ruling last May, the Court stated that the elderly man could be "subjected to an atmosphere of psychological pressure" by his son and other cohabitants.
Furthermore, it added that this entire situation could be isolating him and causing him "a significant psychophysical deterioration." To determine if this is occurring or if it involves "mere coexistence problems," the court ordered the investigating body to reopen an investigation into these events.
Two reports suggest the existence of a possible case of mistreatment
A social report prepared in the summer of 2025 by the Lanzarote Health Services Management, which *La Voz* has had access to, states that the nonagenarian suffers from a possible case of mistreatment due to negligence due to his basic needs being neglected, with lack of support and detachment. This report even activated an action plan with the aim of addressing the situation from various institutions, including the Psychology area of the Cabildo de Lanzarote, and sociosanitary specialties. However, more than a year after that report and two years of institutional actions, the situation has not changed.
The document points to the "socio-family isolation" to which he is subjected within his own home, as he does not receive "affective or material support," even indicating that therapeutic proposals to improve his life are being hindered.
Hinders the work of the hired caregiver for the elderly man
Meanwhile, another report, this time prepared by the Geriatrics Service of the Insular Hospital, indicates that the nonagenarian requires someone to supervise him at all times, even within his home, but that the cohabitants also do not facilitate the work of the employee hired for these tasks.
Given this situation, the family has tried on several occasions for the son to make one of the rooms in the house available so that his father's caregiver has a private space to settle in. The worker, who stays as a live-in in the home, has to store her clothes in the same closet where food and cleaning products are kept. Both the caregiver and the elderly man live in the living room of the house, where, in addition to the caregiver's bed, they also have the refrigerator.
The elderly man's medical history also records that he himself reported to Geriatrics that he suffered "shouting," "humiliation," "isolation," and "threats" from people with whom he lived, while they had prevented him from accessing areas such as the kitchen. Throughout this entire process, even the General Directorate of Dependency of the Canary Islands Government has recognized him with Grade II permanently.
The documentation accessed by this media outlet shows that the nonagenarian has family support from two other daughters with whom he does not live, who are his de facto guardians, and the support of a live-in caregiver who lives with him in the home, but who has already submitted her resignation because her duties are "limited" by "the refusal of the cohabiting son to provide basic resources" to care for the nonagenarian. The situation makes it difficult for the family to find another caregiver who can attend to the elderly man.
The family has decided to raise the alarm publicly to try to expedite the investigation in the courts, given the risk that the elderly man will also lose the caregiver who lives with him and be left in a state of helplessness.
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