So it seems a fitting moment to see just how ‘equal’ people with disabilities—10 percent of Europeans—really feel. Barcelona, with just under 100,000 registered disabled people, is held up as a flagship city for disability issues. This summer, for instance, all its buses were declared fully accessible after a drive to fit ramps and special seatbelts for wheelchair users was completed. More than 60 percent of the streets now meet the Ajuntament’s accessibility criteria, which includes dropped kerbs, audible traffic lights and easily negotiable crossings, and it is on the way to having one specially adapted park in every district.
This is a huge improvement from 1992, when wheelchair athletes here for the Special Olympics complained bitterly and publicly about the city’s lack of access. “For the last 10 years, the Ajuntament’s main focus has been transport and public areas,” according to city councillor Ricard Gomà. He presides over the Municipal Institute of People with Disabilities (IMD), which he calls a “radically democratic” organisation that has representatives from all sections of the disabled community. “Today, every one of our 450 public buildings is completely adapted to help people with disabilities, whether they are a wheelchair user, deaf or blind. Our buses all have ramps and seat belts, and we provide a subsidised taxi service, Taxi Amic, which has a specially adapted fleet to carry people whose disabilities prevent them from using public transport.”
However, he conceded that there is still a lot to do. “With the metros, for example, we had an intensive investment programme in 2003-2004 to incorporate lifts, announcements at each stop and screens, but adapting the trains for wheelchair users will take longer as it is more technical and expensive.”
Lelica Drass is a 30-year-old resident foreigner from France, who teaches French and asked that her real name not be used. She has been in a wheelchair since she broke her back 18 months ago. “Barcelona is a relatively modern city and most of its growth has been since the Olympics, so it has been much easier to think about access issues,” she said. “Compared to Paris, for example, it is very advanced. The streets are easy to negotiate, and three of its beaches are equipped with amphibious vessels, with Red Cross volunteers on hand to help users into the water, which is great.”
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