Tourism for everyone

Being sustainable also means thinking about people with disabilities and providing tools and resources to make tourist experiences accessible. More and more people are working on that to ensure that everyone can enjoy accessible tourism. Would you like to know how?

Rupit i Pruït

Rupit is one of the most visited and bucolic villages in Catalonia. Narrow streets, cobbled pavements that transport you back to medieval times, fresh mountain air, the river flowing gently by ..., a village that everyone loves in the middle of Collsacabra and which has also just been awarded the title of best tourist village  by the World Tourism Organisation. To ensure everyone can enjoy it, the municipality has launched a programme of accessible visits through the La Mirada Tàctil (Tactile Sightseeing) project. There are 17 panels with QR codes throughout the village where you can listen to the stories that are hidden among the stones of the houses. You can also access the tour in braille by requesting the guide, which is available in different languages, at the town hall. Moreover, there is a guided tactile tour that explains the history of the town through marks and reliefs that can be found around the village, such as horseshoe marks and others made on old wooden doors.

Muntanyes de llum

Marta is passionate about mountains. She runs a small, sustainable, Biosphere-certified mountain guide company. One of the services they offer is accompanying people with reduced mobility through natural environments. She explains that one of the most satisfying things for her is to see people’s faces after reaching places they thought they would never get to. Opening up new horizons for people and accompanying them in moments of achievement and adventure is one of the raisons d’être of Muntanyes de llum (Mountains of Light) and the thing that makes them feel most proud of.  

To do this, they use the joëlette, an all-terrain chair that allows children and adults to access places that a wheelchair cannot reach. They are still promoting it and offering people the chance to try it, as it is still relatively unknown.

Furthermore, towns such as Esquirol are signposting paths and trails as inclusive routes that can also be used by conventional wheelchairs. Knowing that the trails are marked, tested, and maintained will turn the walk into a comfortable experience in nature and afford you the freedom to try out routes and explore new places.

Espai Perot Rocaguinarda.

The third example is the Olost Banditry Interpretation Centre. The visit, which can be complemented with a highly entertaining escape room is fully adapted, so that groups of people with disabilities can explore the story of this well-known bandit who caused so much trouble to the soldiers of that time. An area without physical barriers, with subtitled audiovisual materials, sign language translations, talking giants, QR codes on the exhibition panels … The project has also been developed with the support of the cultural heritage office, the Barcelona Provincial Council through La Mirada Tàctil (Tactile Sightseeing) and facilitates access to culture for everyone.

• Check out all the accessible tourism options available in Osona here.