Pinto approves the regulations for the municipal key custody service

The Pinto City Council has definitively approved the Regulations for the Key Custody Service for Elderly People, People in Situations of Dependency, and Vulnerable Groups of the Municipality of Pinto. The agreement was adopted by the Plenary in an ordinary session on September 24, 2026, via ordinary vote and by absolute majority, after resolving the submitted allegations. The full text is published in the OFFICIAL GAZETTE OF THE COMMUNITY OF MADRID no. 250, of October 20, 2026, section III (Local Administration), pages 514 to 517, with reference BOCM-20261020-56.

A preventive, assistance-based, and free service

The regulation is issued under article 49.c) of Law 7/1985, of April 2, regulating the Bases of the Local Regime, and is supported by Law 39/2006, of December 14, on the Promotion of Personal Autonomy and Care for People in Situations of Dependency. The regulation defines the service as preventive, assistance-based, free, and complementary to municipal social services and public emergency services, with an administrative nature and voluntary character.

The provision will be carried out under a municipal public service regime, under the direction and coordination of the Mayor’s Office or the competent Delegated Department for social services. The physical custody of the keys will be the responsibility of the Pinto Local Police, the body charged with guaranteeing the security, integrity, and control of access to them.

The declared objectives are to guarantee a rapid response to home emergencies, avoid personal injury due to the impossibility of accessing the home, encourage vulnerable people to remain in their usual environment, facilitate coordination between social services, municipal police, and health or emergency services, and reduce situations of risk, isolation, or social lack of protection.

Who can request the service

Beneficiaries may be people registered in the municipality who voluntarily request to join and fall into any of these categories:

• People over sixty-five years of age who live alone.
• People with a recognized degree of dependency.
• People with physical, psychic, or sensory disabilities with a recognized degree exceeding 50%.
• People who live alone and present a temporary situation of special vulnerability derived from illness, accident, or convalescence, as justified in the administrative file.

The access requirements are to be registered and effectively reside in Pinto, submit the formal application using the standardized form, provide supporting documentation, sign the express authorization for the custody and eventual use of the keys, and provide contact or reference persons for emergencies. The procedure is initiated at the request of the interested party or their legal representative, before the General Registry of the City Council or the auxiliary Registry of the Social Services Area.

The maximum period for resolution and notification is three months, and the lack of an express resolution will have the effect of a rejection, in accordance with Article 24.1 of Law 39/2015, of October 1.

Sealed envelope, alphanumeric code, and police access

The beneficiary delivers a functional copy of the access key to their home, which is deposited in a sealed, stamped envelope identified by an alphanumeric code. Under no circumstances will the envelope contain a direct reference to the name or address of the user. The keys are kept in secure facilities of the Pinto Local Police, with restricted access to authorized personnel and traceability of any action, through an internal registry of deposits, accesses, and returns.

The use of the keys is only permissible in cases of the holder’s consent, judicial authorization, or flagrant crime. In the application, the beneficiary may authorize their use in a health or care emergency, certain risk to life or physical integrity, activation by emergency or health services, and lack of response given rational indications of danger, such as notification from relatives, activation of telecare, calls from neighbors, prolonged lack of contact, or a health requirement.

Access to the home is carried out by Municipal Police officers, and every action is documented by a diligence or internal report including date and time, reason, acting personnel, and result, in addition to being communicated to the relatives or designated reference persons.

Rights, data, and causes for termination

Users have the right to the proper custody and preservation of the keys, to the confidentiality of their data, to be informed of any incident, and to the immediate return of the keys upon termination. They must communicate changes of locks, address, or personal situation, keep contact details updated, and sign the consent documents.

Data processing complies with Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and Organic Law 3/2018, and user status is terminated by voluntary resignation, death, or proven serious breach in a file with a prior hearing. An additional provision allows the Mayor’s Office and the departments of social services, local police, and civil protection to approve internal technical coordination protocols.

The regulation comes into force ten business days after its publication in the BOCM and is signed in Pinto, on October 9, 2026, by the Councilor-Delegate for Family, María Jesús Castro García de Paredes.

The regulation provides stable legal coverage for a device that until now lacked its own regulation and directly affects single-person elderly households and families with dependent persons in their care: the key remains in the hands of the Local Police and is only used with prior consent, judicial authorization, or in the case of a flagrant crime, which reinforces the legal security of both the users and the officers intervening in an emergency.

Source: OFFICIAL GAZETTE OF THE COMMUNITY OF MADRID, no. 250, of October 20, 2026, section III (Local Administration), pp. 514-517 (official reference: BOCM-20261020-56).