That all children can enjoy the most magical night of the year with the same guarantees. With this pretext, more and more municipalities in Girona are adapting their parades so that children with autism, deafness and other types of functional diversity can receive Melchor, Gaspar and Baltasar with the same enthusiasm as the others.
Towns such as Girona, Palafrugell, Olot, Blanes, Figueres and Banyoles have opted this year to make more inclusive routes, suitable for all types of public at least in some of the sections.
For the first time, the Palafrugell parade will have an inclusive section. It will be a delimited space, at the beginning of the route, at the height of Calle de la Noguera, between Calle Joan Maragall and Plaza del Sol.
A section in which there will be no musical stridency or great special or sound effects, thinking about those children who suffer from sensory hypersensitivity, such as people with autism spectrum disorder.
In Palafrugell, their Majesties will arrive on floats, unlike the center of Llafranc, which will arrive by sea. The royal delegation will make their speeches from the balcony of the Museu del Suro in Palafrugell, with translation into sign language.
The Three Wise Men of Olot will also incorporate a sign language translator. He will be located in the Firal and will accompany the usual narrators who this year will explain in a more descriptive way what happens during the tour.
Also in Olot for the first time, the parade includes a “quiet area open to everyone.” The space includes the corner between Lorenzana and Serra i Ginesta streets, where the music will have much lower decibels than in the rest of the itinerary along which 300 pages and princesses will parade in the company of Their Majesties.
In this section the procession will not shoot fire and the characters will not use the microphone. In addition, the municipality will have several “shelter” establishments where all those who need to calm down can enter.
Today and tomorrow, coinciding with the opening days of the royal camp, which will be set up in Plaça Clarà, children with some type of sensory hypersensitivity will be able to greet the members of the entourage a quarter of an hour before the usual time, at 5:45 p.m. h. For this it is necessary to reserve an appointment. Tickets can be downloaded from the Olot Cultura website.
Whoever wishes can also touch objects and the dresses of the royal pages. Also on this occasion the menu is adapted to all ages and conditions. The guide lines of the letters have been removed in favor of a blank space where you can draw, paste or paint.
Figueres will have a stand adapted for people with functional diversity on the Rambla and a low sensory intensity area in the Plaza del Gra for people with ASD.
The tour of the capital of Alt Empordà will have eight floats and more than 300 extras, who will accompany the Kings to the town hall building. There, members of the TEA Alt Empordà association and their families will be able to enjoy the reception of Melchor, Gaspar and Baltasar.
This year’s parade brings back the candies. A ton of gluten-free sweets will be distributed, which the pages will hand out to the little ones.
For the first year, Girona will also incorporate a silent point for people with acoustic sensitivity. It will be located at the turn between Carrer del Mestre Francesc Civil and Carrer Santa Eugènia, in the first section of a route that, as usual in recent years, will start at the Camp de Mart de la Devesa and culminate in the esplanade of the cup.
The one who repeats the experience of a year ago will be Blanes. Children who require special attention will have priority access to the royal camp, which this year will be located on Passeig del Mar, at the confluence with Ample Street.
It will be in the royal camp where, once the route that has passed through the historic center of the city has finished, Melchor, Gaspar and Baltasar will talk to the little ones to collect the last letters and give them candy.
This is one of the most massive events. Last year there were three queues and this year there will be a fourth for children with functional diversity, so that they can greet the Three Wise Men with the shortest wait time possible.
Families who want to participate in this initiative will receive an accreditation for the occasion via email, which they must show to the organization of the parade. You can also pick it up at Blanes Town Hall, on the ground floor until this Friday at 2:30 p.m.
The configuration of this inclusive route in Blanes has had the collaboration of the AMPA of the Escola Especial Ventijol; Aspronis, an entity that serves people with intellectual disabilities; the Association of Special Families of Tordera, the Association Pas a Pas Autisme, several sports organizations, the primary care team of Blanes and other groups.
Banyoles has also designed a parade accessible to all children for the second year. The show on the new soccer field that will serve to welcome Their Majesties will have an area reserved for people with reduced mobility. In addition, the show will incorporate among its ranks the page Mans, a sign language interpreter.
The street, as happened a year ago, will enable a low-stimulus section between Calle de la Barca, from Calle de la Sardana to Plaza del Carme. In this zone, the music and lights will be softer and more moderate. There will also be fewer people. A section that will be closed to regulate the entry of people and limit access.
The municipality will also have “spaces of calm” in which people who require it can take refuge, whether due to the stress of the moment, to breastfeed the baby or to reduce the overstimulation that the parade in which 250 will participate may entail. volunteers.
The three spaces of calm will be the La Carpa restaurant, on Paseo Darder; the Can Xabanet restaurant, in Plaza del Carme and the La Sal pastry shop, in Plaza Major.
