Spain's ALS advocates push law implementation and bridge lighting

Patient groups and the Spanish Neurology Society marked International ALS Day on 21 June, noting that more than 4,000 Spaniards live with the disease and that a law intended to guarantee care has not been fully applied. They demand the Ministry of Social Rights publish an up‑to‑date map of service provision, eliminate co‑payments and ensure full compatibility of health and social benefits, and train professionals in line with the law’s fourth additional provision. As one activist wrote, “La Ley ELA no se abandona.”

In the town of Ontinyent, the municipal council approved a lighting campaign for the Pont de Santa Maria: orange on 20 June for facio‑scapulo‑humeral muscular dystrophy and green on 21 June for ALS. The local association Remember contra la ELA secured the illumination, describing it as a “gran victoria colectiva” that helps raise public awareness of these rare neuromuscular diseases.