300 meters blindfolded in Torremolinos to raise awareness about the daily lives of people with vision problems

Under the title "Walking with Different Eyes: Daily Life Simulation for Blind People," Torremolinos hosted an activity that indeed lived up to its announcement.

This initiative by the Spanish National Organization of the Blind (ONCE) aims to showcase the work of its Social Group, a part of the organization that clearly states its goal is to achieve "equality for people with blindness and other disabilities."

To help sighted people empathize with the blind, ONCE invited representatives from the municipal government, the Torremolinos Association of Merchants and Business Owners, and other groups advocating for the removal of barriers, such as TEAcompaño and the South Autism Foundation, to do something that seems simple: walk from the organization's headquarters at Avenida de Los Manantiales, 8, to San Miguel Street to go shopping. The crux of the matter is that the 300-meter walk was not going to be easy, as the volunteers did it blindfolded, completely covering their eyes.

Cristina Cervantes Dopico, director of ONCE in Torremolinos, explained it this way: "What we are trying to do is show people all that is done for people with visual disabilities, who are our members, beyond what is most known, which is the sale of lottery tickets."

Theory and Practice

For this, the guests had to attend a theoretical class where they learned the guidelines that blind people use to handle tasks such as choosing the right ticket or verifying if the change they received is correct, moving with someone as a guide, or, more challenging, going to the establishment alone.

At the corner of Costa del Sol Square, the first stop, came the moment to visit an ONCE sales booth and, without visual references, choose a favorite number and pay for the transaction, all in one of the busiest corners of the coast.

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A bit further on, in the heart of Torremolinos' commercial area, Luciano Alonso, president of Autism South, had to choose a tourist magnet blindly, assisted by Deseada Tejera from TEAcompaño. Earlier, they had switched roles, with Alonso being Tejera's eyes for much of the journey from ONCE's main office in the municipality.

City councilors Isabel Vargas of Commerce; Gloria Manoja of Social Welfare; and Sandra Jaime of Accessibility also temporarily gave up one of their senses for this cause.

"They've seen the day-to-day of those who face these challenges," summarized the president of ONCE.

Martina Segura Schulz, a rehabilitation technician for ONCE in Málaga, emphasized that, in face of a person's visual problems, it is important to consider guidelines such as making the journeys beforehand, with or without the help of canes, depending on the vision capacity, and managing money to be able to recognize it by size, for example.

The ONCE in Torremolinos has 410 members, including residents from its area of influence, which includes Benalmádena, Álora, Cártama, and the Alhaurines, and 220 sellers.