More than 130 Spanish accessible beaches offer a (free of charge) sea bathing service for physically impaired visitors consisting of floating beach chairs and assistance provided by Cruz Roja staff and/or volunteers.

Spain has an enormous coastline of golden sandy beaches (more than 3900 km long) amongst the most wonderful in the entire world: Spanish beaches are many tourists only reason to visit Spain. The success of the blue flags awarded as a sign of quality for Spanish beaches (more than four hundred) clearly shows the high level of the installations.

Thanks to partnerships formed by the central and autonomous regions governments and local municipalities access to the bathing areas has been improved and a range of technical aids, including floating beach chairs and crutches are available to allow disabled visitors to enjoy a day on the beach.

In a drive to ensure that people with disabilities also enjoy unlimited access to our beaches the Cruz Roja Española (Spanish Red Cross) has long ago undertaken a project dedicated to providing people who have mobility impairments with the opportunity to enjoy sea bathing through the Baño Adaptado program. Many accessible beaches offer this free of charge service consisting of floating beach chairs and assistance provided by Cruz Roja staff and/or volunteers.

The so called "amphibious chair" or "floating beach chair" (special beach wheelchairs for entering the water) is designed in such a way that the disabled person can use it to take a bath since in the water it is of course floating. It is very easy to move on sand, pebbles and rocks, thus the pleasures of getting into the water can be enjoyed by disabled visitors from all over the world.

Click to access document featuring more than 130 beaches
where service is available

Rebecca Arce

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