Former Madrid health official in Andorra skips court in care‑home deaths probe

Carlos Mur, a psychiatrist who formerly headed mental‑health services at Andorra’s Nostra Senyora de Meritxell hospital and served as director general for sociosanitary coordination in the Madrid regional government during the first COVID‑19 wave, failed to appear this week to testify at a Madrid court investigating deaths in regional care homes. Mur, who lives and works in Andorra la Vella, told local media he did not attend because he had not received a court summons "by any means."

Mur was due to be questioned alongside two other former Madrid health officials. Francisco Javier Martínez Peromingo attended and answered the judge’s and prosecutor’s questions, saying he had opposed aspects of the protocols he was asked to draft. Pablo Busca, the former head of the regional emergency service SUMMA 112, also did not appear. Lawyers for relatives of victims said they will ask the court to issue search‑and‑arrest orders for Mur and Busca if they continue to evade testimony.

Relatives and prosecutors allege that a series of sociosanitary protocols sent to about 474 care homes in mid‑March 2020 discouraged or barred hospital transfers for residents with high dependency, dementia or severe disabilities, contributing to a large number of deaths in long‑term care facilities. Court filings cited in the complaints put the number of care‑home deaths covered by the cases at 7,291. Prosecutors and some witnesses describe the documents—four versions dated 18, 20, 24 and 25 March 2020—as containing exclusion criteria that in practice advised against or prohibited admitting certain elderly residents to hospital.

Complaints allege Martínez helped draft the documents, that Mur signed them, and that Busca oversaw ambulance responses that followed the guidance. Court sources and plaintiffs’ lawyers say authorities attempted to serve Mur several times without success; defence lawyers for families described the absences as an affront to victims’ relatives and said they want a full judicial inquiry to determine whether hospital‑referral decisions amounted to discriminatory denial of care and to establish individual responsibilities.

Local reporting in Andorra says Mur works in private practice at the Omega Zeta clinic in Andorra la Vella and recently received authorisation to contract with the Caixa Andorrana de Seguretat Social (CASS). Andorran health authorities justified the accreditation on sectoral needs, citing a shortage of psychiatrists and a proportion of practitioners nearing retirement; the accreditation was granted in October and Mur was subsequently placed on the CASS payroll.

Mur is a Spanish national resident in Andorra. Legal commentators and regional reporting note that any Spanish request for detention or extradition would put pressure on Andorran authorities to cooperate, though standard judicial considerations such as double criminality and procedural requirements would apply in any extradition process.

Families’ representatives and campaign groups have repeatedly demanded clarity and accountability over how care homes were managed during the pandemic. Protests and public scrutiny in Madrid have continued since 2020, and plaintiffs say they will pursue the investigation "until there is truth, justice and reparation." The judicial probe remains open and courts are considering requests from families and prosecutors for measures to secure the appearance of the accused and to investigate the drafting and application of the March 2020 protocols.