Accessibility to cultural venues, tourism and leisure services for people with disabilities is still very limited, according to the Spanish Committee of Representatives of People with Disabilities (CERMI). CERMI states that “Guaranties of accessibility should not be considered as a matter of sensitivity or of an agent’s good faith, but more as a matter of fundamental rights which should be guaranteed by the Government through a binding and effective law”.
Their proposals to improve accessibility are very concise: they extend from establishing the necessary legal framework in order to regulate accessibility to audiovisual media (subtitling or broadcasting into Sign Language the program for deaf people, audiodescription of a specific program for blind people) to the elaboration of a National Plan for the development of an Accessible Tourism.Although the main Spanish museums have already been modified for people with disabilities (the Reina Sofía Museum, the Museo del Prado, the Guggenheim Museum of Bilbao, the Dali Museum at Figueras, the Picasso Museum at Barcelona and the IVAM Valencia Institute of Modern Art, among others) the cultural heritage of Spain, in general, frequently presents difficult obstacles to overcome. Access to monuments, installations or cultural activities for people with disabilities is not always taken into consideration.
Even though some initiatives have been made to compile information on accessible hotels, beaches, rural tourism, trekking and tourism services for people with disabilities, the truth is that there is still little specific professional preparation, and more rarely do agencies and tour operators offer travels that don’t entail an obstacle course full of disappointments for the 3.5 million Spaniards who suffer from some kind of disability, and for their families, altogether, 10 million people. According to CERMI’s sources, there is a market with an important potential demand.
Source:
http://www.cermi.es/
http://www.canalsolidario.org/