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The Accessibility Code of Catalonia represents a very significant qualitative and quantitative leap with respect to the existing regulations in this field. It goes beyond architectural barriers, and incorporates aspects such as communicative and cognitive accessibility of products and services or cultural, sports and leisure activities. The new regulation aims to respond to the demographic challenge of aging and also affect the quality of life of people with disabilities or with difficulties interacting with the environment, to guarantee the exercise of their rights and avoid inequalities.
It is a careful and ambitious regulation that aims to place Catalonia as a leading country in universal accessibility. In this sense, the new code establishes conditions, requirements and solutions so that anyone can carry out the activities of daily life in the most autonomous way possible.
On the occasion of the entry into force of the regulation on March 4, the College of Architects of Catalonia (COAC) organized a day last week to present the most relevant news. The Minister of Social Rights, Carles Campuzano, participated; the president of the COAC in the demarcation of Barcelona, Sandra Bestraten, and the general secretary of Social Rights, Oriol Amorós, who detailed the most important axes and novelties of the Code. The event also included a musical performance by the Riborquestra Association and a monologue on accessibility by Marc Buxaderas.
The Government of the Generalitat places accessibility as a challenge that cannot be postponed. And it is that in 2031 one in four Catalans is expected to be 65 or older, that the number of people with chronic health problems will have doubled, and that the number of people with disabilities or dependency will increase. Projections also estimate that by 2060 the population aged 85 and over will have tripled.
With the approval of this regulation, Catalonia has powerful regulations to respond to the demographic trend of aging. In this sense, the text emphasizes that accessibility has a direct impact on the quality of life of citizens and avoids the inequalities generated by existing barriers, both physical and sensory or cognitive.
The Accessibility Code replaces a regulation that has been in force since 1995, updates and harmonizes existing regulations and delves into aspects that have not been regulated until now. In addition, it adapts the Catalan regulatory framework to the guidelines of the United Nations International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
It is structured in 199 articles, 11 chapters and 15 annexes that detail measures to be applied in territory, buildings, means of transport, products, services, communication systems, information and new technologies. The aim is to influence the quality of life of all citizens, especially people with disabilities or those with difficulties interacting with the environment, to guarantee the exercise of their rights and avoid the inequalities generated by the barriers that exist today. To make this possible, the article includes three main axes:
In addition, the Code introduces the accessibility quality badge, a recognition mechanism for those establishments, spaces or municipalities that achieve a level of accessibility higher than that required by legislation.
The text has been worked on in collaboration with a great diversity of actors. It has been led by the Department of Social Rights, but working together with other ministries, the local world, professional associations and organizations in the disability and dependency sector.
