Limited mobility with no accessibility

“The hardest thing about being in a wheelchair is not being able to do things for your self.”

This is the answer that I got when I asked my father 57- year- old Edmund Zendejas, who has been in a wheel chair for the past eight years what it was like to be disabled. For these past eight years, my mother and I have constantly had issues with accessibility. I have found that when I go out with my father here in Texas, there are more and more sites that have made their places more than accessible.

According to a report done by the State Committee of Representatives of the Handicapped there are over 3,881 disabled people in Spain. They make up 7.4 percent of the total European population. While I was there, I found that the accessibility is very rare. To get into any building or go anywhere, you need to go up some flights of stairs or a hill. As I traveled around Spain, I noticed that it was not a place I could ever take my father, because of the lack of accessibility. It also got me wondering how the people there manage.

As a normal and healthy person, getting up and going somewhere is not a problem. If you have to walk up two or three flights of stairs just to get into a restaurant, you may be tired afterwards but it can be done. You don’t tend to think about how big the doorways are, or if the restrooms are big enough for a wheelchair, much less if the place itself is big enough to walk around comfortably without bumping into anything. These are all things that I, along with many others around the world, think about on a daily basis.

Being handicapped or taking care of someone who is gets you in the habit of not only knowing your surroundings but also questioning them. You find yourself thinking about accessibility every time you go somewhere even if you’re alone. Accessibility is a big issue anywhere you go. Places are built to accommodate regular people who are able to move about freely. Nowadays you will find that handicapped accessibility is a lot more common because of ADA enforcement, or so I thought.

While at the Gay Pride Parade in Madrid, Spain, I ran into a mother daughter pair. Though it was very crowded and loud, I did manage to ask the mother, Sophia, and the daughter, Isabel, how they were able to get around being that Isabel was in a wheel chair. Sophia’s’ face dropped a bit as she replied, “It is hard, but we manage. Unfortunately, unlike the rest of Madrid the metro is not an option for us. If we have to go anywhere, we just drive our own SUV. It costs more than taking the metro while in the city, but it has to be done.”

The metro is a very convenient way to get around on a daily basis for an average person, but for someone in a wheelchair, it’s not. Getting into buildings is one thing, but getting transportation to that place is just as difficult. I noticed that the public transportation system in Spain was not designed for people with a physical disability. The last five days I spent in Madrid, I spent a lot of time on the metro, and of all the metro rides I took, I only saw one of them that had a space specifically reserved for a wheelchair. I was amazed that they actually had a space reserved that had a seat belt to strap in the chair. As refreshing as it was to see that the metro actually had reserved spaces for the disabled, it made me wonder how exactly someone in a wheelchair was supposed to get down there to take the metro. The whole time I was around the metro stations, I only saw an elevator or two, though that is not to say that Spain as a whole does not have accessible transportation.

I’m so used to seeing handicapped signs that indicate accessibility. While in Spain, I didn’t see such signs. The city and its buildings were pretty self-explanatory in the sense that there was just no way to get a wheelchair in them. The U.S. Department of Justice released the ADA (American Disability Act) Standards for Accessible Design in 1990. It is a document that gives graphics and notes on dimensions as well as specifications for stairs, ramps, parking zones and other items related to accessibility.

As I said earlier, I found that lately it has become easier for me to find accessible places because of these new regulations that are now a requirement. It definitely lessens the stress on me and my family to know that wherever we go, it is more than likely that my father will be able to get in and move around more comfortably. When I spoke to the two women at the parade, I asked Isabel, who was in the wheelchair, how she gets around as far as going out to eat and what not. She replied, “I go where I can, even if it’s just for a ride, but I don’t get to eat out much. For the most part, I stay at home or go to school.”

Although there are not many indications posted around the city of Madrid there are many options as far as transportation goes for the disabled. Fundacion ONCE is an organization based in Spain that has funded the Euro Taxi. The Euro Taxi is a fully accessible taxi for those with limited mobility. There are 336 Euro Taxis throughout Spain, and 150 in Madrid alone. As of 2005 36 percent of Spain’s buses have been adapted to the needs of the disabled thanks to Fundacion ONCE. So, there is public transportation for those who need it, but most buildings, not all, are still lacking the tools necessary for easier access.

Thanks to organizations like the European Disability Forum and National Coordination Bodies working to get better accessibility in both transportations and businesses, Spain will eventually be a country that everyone can enjoy without worries.