The deputy of Nueva Canarias (NC) Natalia Santana has retracted this Friday and has publicly apologized to the Association of people with disabilities of Lanzarote (Adislan) for not having previously verified accusations of malpractice made in Parliament.
During a parliamentary commission, Santana acknowledged that his actions could have generated "anguish or fear" among families and admitted that perhaps they should have "acted differently," such as by arranging a meeting with the entity beforehand before forwarding the complaints to the Chamber.
“There was no intention to offend,” said Santana, who insisted that his intervention responded to concerns raised by the entity's workers, but that, after visiting the center and listening to management and families, they have reconsidered the way they approached the matter.
For her part, the managing director of Adislan, Mónica Hernández, who spoke first, has "categorically" rejected the claims about alleged unsanitary conditions or health risks in its centers, which she has described as "false" and lacking rigor, and has defended the entity's track record, with more than 50 years of activity.
Hernández has stated that the organization works under transparency criteria and is subject to continuous controls by public administration, and has warned that these types of accusations call into question the work of its professionals and generate distrust among the users' families.
Likewise, it has denied the existence of labor reprisals against workers who carry out union activities or violations of fundamental rights and has demanded a public rectification to restore the entity's image.
The appearance takes place weeks after the Minister of Social Welfare, Candelaria Delgado, accused NC of using Parliament to "discredit" Adislan, in reference to an intervention in which deficiencies were reported in centers managed by the entity.
On that occasion, Delgado specified that the images broadcast corresponded to a functional home and not the main residence, and admitted the existence of a "specific episode of bedbugs" that occurred a year ago, which, as he indicated, was resolved after activating the corresponding protocols.
The counselor then defended that the inspections carried out have verified that the service complies with regulations, with specific aspects in the process of correction, and that there are no formal complaints from users or relatives regarding the operation of the questioned residence.
