Long-term Deprivation of Liberty The center’s Recreational Activities Commission can also organize outings. Dur­ ing the inspection visit, a group of 30 residents who could manage on their own was spending a week at a beach in Murcia. The center also organizes 187. The residents’ daily routine is rigid and monotonous. The most common feeling amongst residents who have been in the center for less than a year is that «time does not pass» or that it passes «exasperatingly slowly». There are only ac­ tivities from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm in the occupational therapy area and in the so-called School (rug-making, drawing, cognitive exercises, psycho-educational talks, etc.). These activities are for persons better able to manage on their own, and most residents just stay in the hallways or in the television room and do not participate. The lack of activities leads residents to live in a state of lethargy and lack of response to the surroundings to which they initially resist. For residents who are not authorized to leave the center, television is nearly the only activity they have. Furthermore, at night the majority of residents have to spend about 11 hours in their rooms, where they usually do not have a television or anything else that can serve as a stimulus or entertainment. For example, one resident who was interviewed described a routine in which the only activities were meals and buy­ ing two cans of Coke at the bar in the square, and when asked what he did after breakfast simply answered «I wait for lunchtime». Another resident said: «I am fed up with television and of being here. There are times when even if you don’t want to you fall asleep watching television because you are so bored. And then at night you spend hours tossing and turning in bed (...)». One resident said: «What I like best in the center is the can of Coke they give us.» In consequence, neces­ sary measures must be adopted to lessen the current shortage of activities and stimulus for residents, especially in the afternoon. The residents’ daily routine outings is rigid and monotonous, and more activities should be organized Living room in one of the Photograph 51 buildings THE OMBUDSMAN OF SPAIN 141