General Manuel Barrós Vales was head of Security of the King's House between 1999 and 2013, years in which his presence was constant alongside members of the royal family. The 69-year-old soldier, suffering from ALS, appeared again this Thursday with Queen Sofía in an event full of emotion and commitment since the Manolo Barrós research project that the Queen Sofía Foundation will finance was named after him. .
The event took place in the CIEN Foundation Auditorium (Center for Research on Neurological Diseases) and its scientific director, Dr. Pascual Sánchez Juan, was in charge of presenting the project consisting of the search for diagnostic biomarkers for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). ) in extracellular vesicles”, developed by the CIEN Foundation in collaboration with the universities of Bonn and Cologne. Dr. Sánchez recalled that "neurodegenerative diseases are the ones for which it is most difficult to find effective treatments," since "the brain is the most complex organ." However, he celebrated that "a lot of progress has been made" in ALS and recalled that "more than a dozen genes" related to the disease have already been found.
ALS is the most common degenerative motor neuron disease in adults. It manifests itself in the form of progressive paralysis that affects most of the muscles and life expectancy, in the vast majority of cases, is less than 5 years. Between 4,000 and 4,500 people are estimated to currently suffer from the disease in Spain.
The event was attended by the current secretary general of the King's House and vice president of the board of the Reina Sofía Foundation, Domingo Martínez Palomo, who shared with Manolo Barrós almost thirty years of loyal service in the King's House, as well as other officials and former officials. from Zarzuela who wanted to accompany Barrós, present at the event with his wife and two children.
The event ended with a few words from Manolo Barrós, read by his daughter Raquel, in which he celebrated the importance of financing a project that promotes an early diagnosis of ALS. Through his daughter, General Barrós addressed Queen Sofia: "For more than 30 years, I witnessed your cooperation in supporting projects to help others. What I never imagined was that, years later, a research project could bear my name, which makes me feel very honored. From the bottom of my heart, thank you very much and at your service."
Barrós, born in Tomiño (Pontevedra) in 1954, trained at the General Military Academy of Zaragoza and was promoted to Infantry Lieutenant in 1976. Among the assignments he held throughout his professional career, the Recruit Training Center stands out. number 13 of Figueirido (Pontevedra); the Arapiles Mountain Hunter Regiment number 62 from La Seu d'Urgell (Lleida) and the Special Operations Company number 62 based in Bilbao.
He was also in the 20th General Reserve Company of the National Police Corps, based in Valencia, and in the Army Higher School, before joining the security service of the King's House, where he spent almost thirty years, and of which He was in charge between 1999 and 2013, when he was promoted to division general. In December 2015, on the occasion of his transfer to the reserve, he said goodbye to his position as Deputy General to the Chief General of the UME, after 42 years of service in the Armed Forces.
