A judge in Arganda del Rey, Madrid, has named the head of geriatrics at Gregorio Marañón hospital as a suspect. The judge is examining her alleged role in drafting protocols that limited transfers of elderly care-home residents to hospitals during the pandemic. The move follows testimony from Carlos Mur, a former senior health official under Isabel Díaz Ayuso. Mur said that although he signed the so-called “protocolos de la vergüenza,” the initial proposal came from the hospital specialist.
The protocols have been at the center of judicial inquiries across the Community of Madrid. Families of deceased care-home residents say the measures prevented ill elderly people from being transferred to hospital, potentially affecting their chances of survival during the height of the COVID-19 crisis. The Arganda proceedings form part of a wider effort to examine individual deaths and the decisions behind the protocols.
In recent hearings, Mur, who served as Director of Sociosanitary Coordination for the Madrid regional government, has pointed to other officials, including the Gregorio Marañón geriatrician. He described his role as providing technical endorsement and said the protocol originated with a geriatrics expert. The doctor has been summoned as a suspect. Mur is also under scrutiny, as are Francisco Javier Martínez Peromingo and Pablo Busca. A suspect designation is a procedural step in an investigation, not a finding of criminal liability.
The case reflects continuing legal and political tensions over the management of care homes and the responsibilities of regional health authorities during the pandemic. The protocols, widely known as the “protocolos de la vergüenza,” have prompted public debate about how decisions were made and responsibility distributed across the chain of command. Gregorio Marañón is a public hospital in the Community of Madrid’s health system. That institutional status does not, by itself, establish any individual clinician’s role in developing the protocols. Similar controversies over official accountability have surfaced in other high-profile cases, including the Supreme Court decision to suspend a sentence in a major corruption case.
Madrid was among Spain’s hardest-hit regions during the first COVID-19 wave, and care homes experienced heavy mortality. The transfer protocols were introduced amid intense pressure on hospitals. The court proceedings are examining their implementation and authorship, with potential implications for future policy on elderly care and crisis management.
