The residents of La Móra-Tamarit have offered the local association's premises as a future site for a medical clinic in a neighborhood of Tarragona with about 2,000 registered inhabitants and no local healthcare. The Department of Health has indicated that it is studying the feasibility of the facility.
The demand comes as the debate progresses simultaneously in the Tarragona City Council and in the Parliament. The paradox is that the neighborhood already has a municipal space that could house a basic clinic, but its residents continue to depend on centers located in Altafulla, Torredembarra, or CAP Llevant, with added difficulties in bus connections.
The Tarragona plenary session endorsed the request and Parliament is studying opening a clinic one morning a week
In December, the Tarragona City Council plenary session approved a motion presented by ERC to promote the clinic with 25 votes in favor and one abstention. On Friday, the municipal group of the PP pushed through another motion to urge Health to promote the service and also guarantee the bus connection to CAP Llevant.
The PP's initiative received favorable votes from PP, ERC, and Junts per Catalunya, while PSC and En Comú Podem abstained. Non-attached councilors Javier Gómez and Jaime Duque voted against.
In parallel, Parliament is debating a resolution proposal from ERC on the same matter. The PSC parliamentary group has incorporated technical amendments that do not alter the original spirit of the text.
The Republican proposal suggests setting up a space in the social center of La Móra-Tamarit, owned by the Tarragona City Council, to open a clinic with minimal medical presence one morning a week. It also calls for scheduling the periodic visit of a nurse, preferably every two weeks, for care, vaccinations, and primary care check-ups.
The nearest clinic is 3.6 kilometers away and the L12 does not reach CAP Llevant
Currently, the closest clinic for residents is in Altafulla, 3.6 kilometers away. Next is the one in Torredembarra, 5.5 kilometers away, and CAP Llevant, more than eight kilometers away, all managed by Xarxa Santa Tecla.
ERC also argues that the L12 bus line does not reach CAP Llevant. This forces users to get off at Via Augusta and continue on foot, an option that the motion considers unfeasible for the elderly or those with health problems.
Gemma Fusté, councilwoman for ERC, framed the request within a sustained demand from the neighborhood and linked it to the increase in residents. During the municipal debate, she defended that the resident population has grown in recent years and that the neighborhood's claim has intensified.
"We are 2,000 registered people here and we don't have a clinic, there isn't a single town like this in all of Catalonia; people have to go to Altafulla or Torredembarra" - Albert Franquès, president of the La Móra-Tamarit Neighborhood Association
Franquès added that the neighborhood has a deficit of services compared to other territories with a similar population. He also opened the door to ceding the neighborhood premises if necessary to install the clinic there.
That space would allow for the setup of a consultation room with a stretcher, a computer with internet connection, and the necessary materials for basic healthcare. The third point of the parliamentary proposal suggests agreeing on the technical and logistical viability with the Tarragona City Council and the Department of Health.
For her part, Maria Mercè Martorell, spokesperson for the PP in the City Council, defended during the plenary session that La Móra is part of Tarragona and must have adequate public space, infrastructure, and connections with the center. The motion that her group presented on Friday also called for improving bus access to the Llevant CAP.
The proposal being debated in Parliament sets a minimum medical presence of one morning per week and a nursing visit preferably every two weeks at the La Móra-Tamarit social center.