A brave one-man wheelchair protest is travelling the EN125 from one end of the Algarve to another in a bid to highlight – during the election campaign – the region’s abysmal access issues for the handicapped.
Politicians have always pledged themselves ‘behind mobility’ for those with limited ability but in practice very little ever changes.
Tetraplegic João Varela means to show this in his heroic journey in an electric wheelchair that started on Monday.
In all he will travel 157.5 kms, having begun above the EN125 in Odeceixe (the first stop for people arriving in the Algarve from the west), reaching Sagres by this evening (Tuesday).
João’s protest is also focussed on adding a little more fire to the local campaign to abolish tolls on the A22.
He told regional news website Sulinformação that tolls have served to make the EN125 an even worse prospect for everyday drivers and those with limited mobility because the national road now takes more traffic and has more accidents than it did before their imposition.
“I think that to improve the question of mobility in the Algarve, the tolls have to stop”, he told the online. “I am doing this (protest) during the electoral campaign to admonish the parties and alert them to this problem”.
Along the way, João plans to stop off in various towns and raise awareness to mobility issues in general.
As anyone who has ever had to push anyone in a wheelchair knows, the world suddenly becomes a place of endless obstacles: cars parked on pavements make journeys impossible, high kerbs loom as large as mountains, rolling cobble stones create stress – and then there are the lifts that don’t open wide enough to take a wheelchair, or are too small to accommodate one in any comfort.
‘Autonomous’ wheelchair users are restricted at every turn – and as for the simple act of using an ATM machine, they will tell you ‘it simply cannot be done’ as the machines are too high to be operated by anyone from a sitting position.
Thus João has the plan to make a small video to show people what those in his situation face every single day.
And after this protest, João has plans for another one, even more adventurous. He told Sulinformação that he plans to travel from the Algarve to France in his electric wheelchair to raise awareness of the energetic crisis and “all the problems of climate change”.
As for his current journey, expect to see him en-route to Lagos tomorrow (Wednesday). From then, the programme is:
Portimão–Albufeira (October 4)
Albufeira–Quarteira (October 5)
Quarteira – Faro (October 6)
Faro-Olhão (October 7)
Olhão-Tavira (October 8)
Tavira-Vila Real de Santo António (October 9)
natasha.donn@algarveresident.com
Photo: João Varela, with Jael Guerreiro (left) and Sérgio Santos, who are providing assistance along the way. Here they are pictured in Ponte de Seixe, Odeceixe
