The weight of the French omelette that the inspector from the Community of Madrid sees is so “scant” that it deserves his reproach. It also doesn’t help that the dish comes without a side. Nor that he observes “carts and trays with dirt, leftovers or defects.” The conclusions of his report are included in one of the five files that the Community of Madrid has opened in the last year and a half to fine more than 12,000 euros the contractor of the meal service for the occupational centers Aluche and Juan Ramón Jiménez (Leganés) for people with intellectual disabilities. In those documents, consulted by EL PAÍS on the contracting portal, a “poor state of cleanliness and maintenance in facilities, equipment and utensils” is described. Also “lack of hygiene in warehouses or chambers where food is stored and preserved: dirt, bad smell, etc…”. However, the left-wing opposition does not put the company responsible for the service (Bedmar) at the center of its target. The problem, they argue, is that the base price of the menu set by the Community’s tender was 6.03 euros plus VAT, and the awarded price was 5.45 plus VAT, as the company bid lower to win. Since April, the service has been provided by another company.
A government spokesperson assures that the service has always been “adequate” and adds that “no incidents or complaints from users or relatives about the food served in the dining rooms have been recorded.”
However, the opposition disagrees. “These are the consequences of auctioning off the lives of the elderly to the lowest bidder,” criticizes Lorena Morales, PSOE deputy, about menus that are cooked outside the centers and arrive prepared to them. “And the worst thing is that the fines are so few and of miserable amounts that it is more cost-effective for companies to pay the fine than to comply with the contract,” she reproaches. “The law allows much higher fines, but Ayuso’s priority is business,” she opines. “And a company has never had its management withdrawn, even when there are brutal reports like those of the food in publicly managed residences,” she adds.
For all these reasons, Morales demands “more inspectors and greater controls.” “And, above all, exemplary sanctions that include the withdrawal of the service. The elderly cannot be third-class citizens, as happens in Ayuso’s Madrid,” she concludes.
In a similar vein, Paz Serra, Más Madrid deputy in the regional Parliament, expresses herself. “The Community of Madrid has to stop shirking responsibility,” she demands. “Of course the company has done things badly, but the root of everything must be sought in the specifications drafted by the Community of Madrid,” she maintains. “Paying six euros per menu, it is clear that quality food will not be served to people with disabilities who use these centers,” she continues. “Until they stop contracting at miserable prices, we will continue to see cases like these. Madrilenians deserve policies that put their rights at the center, and we will not stop until patches stop being applied and decisive measures are taken.”
The two occupational centers specialize in the social and labor integration of adults with intellectual disabilities. The contract to serve their meals states that in the Aluche center, 90 daily menus must be provided for 220 days a year, for a total of about 19,800. In Juan Ramón Jiménez, the number of diners rises to 123 daily, for 27,060 menus per year. In both cases, the base price of the menu is 6.03 euros, plus VAT.
In exchange for that consideration, the contractor must guarantee a “complete natural diet based on products with a soft and homogeneous modified texture to facilitate swallowing”; “proteins of high biological value”; “variety of flavors and aromas that improve the appetite and satisfaction of the person; or ”100% natural, fresh and raw fruit, in different forms of presentation (whole, chopped, fruit salad, compote, etc.) and fresh vegetables”.
Raw materials
Paper can withstand anything. But then reality imposes itself. In the allegations process before the Community of Madrid imposed the penalties, the awarded company argued everything. That the administration’s menus arrived with little notice to execute them exactly. That sometimes they had to be changed due to “lack of supply or impossibility of maintaining a final product quality.” That if one of their employees did not wear the proper uniform it was because they were new and there had not been time. That if the meals had an inadequate temperature it would be due to a “deficient” oven operation. That all their employees had received adequate training regarding cleaning and cooking, and if anything there had been some “occasional failure.” Or that if there was no emergency menu, it was because it had been used up and not replaced due to a communication error.
Almost none of those explanations convinced the Community of Madrid, which is now going to start experimenting with a new public-private collaboration formula in the social sector focused on paying for results. The administration, after visiting the facilities on several occasions since 2025, reproaches its contractor for “unauthorized and unjustified changes in the menu with raw materials that are not first or extra category.” “Inadequate temperature in the food.” “Failure to guarantee the traceability of food and beverages or impossibility of their tracking.” Also “not having food handler certificates.” Or “problems with labeling and allergens in the food.”
This is what a spokesperson for the Ministry of Family, Youth and Social Affairs, led by Ana Dávila-Ponce de León Municio, says.
“Users of the Aluche and Juan Ramón Jiménez (Leganés) Centers for people with intellectual disabilities have received and receive an adequate catering service, and no incidents or complaints from users or relatives about the food served in the dining rooms have been recorded,” he explains. “Through the system of audits and permanent controls in the centers, a series of breaches in the food contract by the previous company supplying the meals were detected, which in no case resulted in serving dishes in poor condition,” he continues. And he adds: “Currently, the service in these centers is provided by another entity after the award of a new contract last April.”
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