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Spain without Barriers

Blog - 17 February 2010

The 2010 UEFA Champions League Final in Madrid is fast approaching and that is why we recently met with UEFA and Real Madrid at their Stadium, Santiago de Bernabéu to discuss extra disabled supporter accommodation and services in time for the big match.

We’ll bring you more information about the Final and arrangements in the coming weeks but we can also exclusively reveal that there is a new project being planned in collaboration between the club and Spanish lotto charity, ONCE to create more facilities for partially sighted and blind fans along with a significant increase in the overall number of wheelchair user spaces. So watch this space for more updates...

We also took the opportunity to meet with Alejando Lora García who is the President of the Peña Madritista Morata de Tajuña that represents all the Real Madrid supporters in Spain. The meeting was very encouraging and we are now in contact with Alejandro with a view to starting a Disabled Supporters Association at Real Madrid.

But perhaps our biggest achievement was the meeting with Atlético de Madrid! We had a really productive meeting with Álvaro Sanchéz Gil (Atlético disabled supporter), Pedro Lopez (Atlético Foundation) and Emilio Abejón (FASFE) and right there and then we kicked off with the first association for disabled football supporters in Spain. There was a true and powerful will to start something new with a force for change and after some brainstorming, Álvaro already had a name by the end of the meeting – “Atléticos sin Barreras” which translates quite simply to “Atletico without Barriers”. With a new stadium in the pipeline, it’s a perfect time to form a pan-disability and representative DSA and both the club and the local disabled fans will benefit.

Since we came back there have been more meetings and things are moving on very swiftly. So we will keep an eye and give a hand whenever Álvaro and Pedro need us to do so. And we’ll certainly keep our readers updated on any developments. More news to follow soon!

If you are thinking about setting up a DSA and would like help or information please contact us at info@cafefootball.eu or call us on Skype 020 3287 1619.

Hasta siempre!

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