INCLUSION: 

I spend regularly a few months on LANZAROTE, particularly in VILLA DE TEGUSE (the old capital).

Wherever I come I watch the growing inventiveness of those willing to make their antique houses wheelchairfriendly without disturbing the original features of the place.

The most orginal and socially comforting bar/tapas  for wheelchair users I ever visited is EL CHIRINGUITO in Villa de Teguise in Lanzarote. A local bar tapas in an old house.

  Steelart Sign made by Mick Gonnel

There are TWO toilets, one for each gender. Each of these toilets is perfectly wheelchair friendly (see foto's below), so, able bodied or disabled doesn't make any difference. Those that don't need the handles just don't use them, those that can do with a small door don't mind a large one.

It made me wonder why it is the first time I see such a great solution that does not give the disabled person the feeling of being a hassle , an odd one , whenever they drive  to the loo.

Also, The ramp for wheelchairs is no encumbrance and not too steep.

Other examples of businesses in La Villa de Teguise where the owner cares:

 casa KAOS : a simple soluton to a simple problem.

Take away, and blending well

Blending with the colour of the woodwork.Thanks to Petra from La tienda (de ceramica) in La Galerìa de la Villa

Tourism office in Villa de Teguise, long slow slope ideal for legs and wheels.

Take away door block, one piece and anti slip strips, why not. Main entrance to La Cantina 

None of the above public places , except El Chiringuito,  have wheelchar accessible toilets, mostly because of the high cost and lack of space. Perhaps we (my fellow wheel chairusers and myself)   should suggest a Public toilet large enough for wheelchair users somewhere in the center of Teguise?

In the name of all wheelchairusers many thanks to all those whom care to include us.

 EXCLUSION:

  First read this: After lots of small and stupid obstacles and some experience in the electric heavy wheelchair, I designed my own ramps: I bought for 250 euro a set of unsafe, badly designed ramps. I took away the inside borders - wheels don't get stuck in the ramps - and attached them to one another with red strings at exact distance of each other, wide enough for the wheelchair. Its light weight and every one whom wants to help has it easy, the ramps always are the right width.

In CAMPING EL PINO (torrox/Spain) you'll find the wheelchairfriendly Icon, BUT:

How do you try to get cash out of the above machine? You have barely 60 cm between the panel and the tree and the small stones on the floor make the wheels turn loose.

The entrance ramp to the bar where one can get connected to Internet is so steep that no one dares to help me getting up , certainly not down  -  my electric wheelchair weighs a ton (100 kg).

To get to the wheelchairfriendly lavatory one has to climb this hill, steep and very slippery when humid.

When you go to the shops in Torrox you see wheelchairfriendly ramps placed in front of private businesses, but look well at the picture, the townhall did't care, so you still hang around in the streets looking for an apartment or buying some food.

ANY EXPERIENCES TO SHARE? mailto:info@freeonwheels.com
Those sharing my fate know that “accessible for wheelchairs” is mostly an overstatement. Some examples:
=A very steep ramp  on a high pavement of barely fifty centimeters wide, no chance of turning your wheelchair on this pavement.... do they expect us to climb the ramp sideways?
=On the Ferry, I buy a ticket at ARMAS from PlAYA BLANCA (LANZAROTE) to CORRALEJO / FUERTEVENTURA both CANARIAN ISLANDS, 33 euro. “Of course it is wheelcharfriendly” says the clark handing me over the ticket. I arrive at the Ferry and see 11 metal steps to take... two massive muscular blokes offer to lift my wheelchair -110 kilo’s - and me – almost 70 kilo’s, up these steps.... I refused knowing that this would break their backs and that it would cost me more pain than I can handle. Got the money for the ticket back, of course, and took the Speed boat from TRASMEDITERANEA, 100% wheelchairfriendly, for almost double the price.
=A very stressed busdriver in GENT driving a wheelchairaccessible bus refuses to put the ramp down – takes exactly 30 seconds - because he is late on shedule.
=In the modern well equipped shoppingcenter DEILAND PLAZA (LANZAROTE) a posh lady in a hurry parcs her sportscar right on top of the ramp to the entrance
=I go to a “gasolinera” shop and services in SPAIN on the highway, everything perfect, ramps, easy large doors... a dreamworld for wheelchairusers. After half an hour enjoying coffee, accessible toilets, phones, cashmachine... I want to get back to my van and a large car blocks the way to the ramp. Its raining buckets...
= The shops specialised in wheelchairs in ARRECIFE (LANZAROTE ) and the one in DEINZE (BELGIUM) are not accessible for wheelchairs!  I could not help laughing out loud  in front of such cheer stupidity, in both cases the shopkeepers where embarassed telling me “the big boss doesn’t care, but we are always confronted with the ridicule of the situation”. I felt sorry for them as much as for myself.
=I still have two wooden ramps in the car that the buddies almost always offer to put in front of obstacles when needed but ordered extra light ones because I am embarrassed to ask help with these bulky heavy ramps. but now I have mine, see top page



“I see that they have been thinking about the scaters too”

http://www.gripvzw.be/