Lorraine Williamson
For more than half a year, the mountain town of Cazorla in Jaén has watched its health centre remain shuttered. What began as a temporary precaution has become a daily struggle, and still, the Junta de Andalucía has not given residents a date for reopening.
In a region where public health is often the only accessible care, the silence feels less like administrative delay and more like abandonment.
The journey for medical care is now a daily risk
To reach the nearest available clinic in Peal de Becerro, residents must travel three kilometres along a provincial road without pavements, lighting or safe crossings. Traffic passes at speed, forcing elderly people, parents pushing prams, and those with disabilities to cling to the edge of the tarmac. Local people describe it as “a gamble with your life just to see a doctor”.
Ambulances face the same road. Emergency response times have lengthened, and families fear what might happen if a crisis strikes at night or in bad weather. What should be a routine visit to a nurse or GP has become an obstacle course.
Cracks in the walls—and in trust
The Centro de Salud in Cazorla was closed in April due to cracking walls and structural defects. The Junta de Andalucía argued it had no choice but to ensure safety. Yet residents claim warning signs had been ignored for years. Now they say the building could reopen with minimal repairs, and accuse regional authorities of dragging their feet instead of prioritising essential health services.
Frustration grows as Junta remains silent
Neighbourhood groups, pensioners’ associations, and local families have staged protests and gathered signatures. They have asked for clear answers, safety measures or even a temporary modular clinic—so far, none have arrived. Despite meetings with officials, no reopening date has been confirmed, no works have been scheduled, and no alternative has been offered within the village itself.
For many people without transport, travelling to another town is simply not realistic. Some have skipped appointments altogether. Others rely on neighbours to drive them—if someone is available.
“Health is a right, not a luxury”
In Cazorla—a town of around 7,000 people—healthcare was never seen as a privilege. The centre had served generations and provided everything from vaccinations to palliative care. Residents insist they are not demanding special treatment, only the restoration of a service they already had.
“This is about dignity,” says one resident. “We pay our taxes. We have elderly people, children, and chronic patients. Health is a right, not a luxury you walk three kilometres for.”
A test for rural healthcare in Andalucía
Cazorla’s struggle is becoming a symbol of a wider issue across rural Spain: shrinking services, empty promises and the slow erosion of public infrastructure in small towns. If the region wants to stop depopulation and protect its ageing communities, residents argue, essential healthcare must come first.
Shortage of doctors in rural Spain
No other choice
Winter is approaching, nights are longer, and the road grows more dangerous in the dark. Every week the centre remains closed, trust in the regional government weakens. Until the Junta announces a plan or a reopening date, villagers will keep walking that same unsafe road—because they have no other choice.
Source: Infobae