Being disabled is not great at the best of times, but many can still enjoy life to the full, provided they can get around.

Getting around

Apparently there seems to be a lack of wheelchair available taxis/Ubers, although some taxis are specially adapted to the needs of passengers with reduced mobility in the main cities of Portugal. New taxis are adapted to transport people with reduced mobility, but you need to check and book first.

The national bus service is gradually improving as new buses are added. Local trains aren’t so good, but the New Alfa Pendular intercity one is superb, and the train service guarantees access for all disabled passengers, with their SIM service providing support for Customers with Specific Needs, but this requires prior booking for wheelchairs/mobility scooter users and is subject to the stations on their list of participating stations. Check first.

Flying in

Most airlines are clued up to help, so getting here isn’t a problem. Even the airports are easy to negotiate - those with reduced mobility can use the assistive devices as well as help from skilled professionals who will provide full assistance through the airport. But check first.

Disabled person's parking card

The blue badge is a standardised EU disabled person's parking permit that provides parking entitlements to blue badge holders in all complying European countries, and a blue badge from one country is valid in another.

Credits: PA;

Now for the buts….

There’s always a but, isn’t there? I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to traverse the cobbled streets of, say, Silves, in a wheelchair. Like a lot of Portugal, it’s very hilly, and the cobbles are worn and slippery. But having said that, Silves Castle has some accessible areas, and there are ramps leading to the main parts of the castle. The historical Cathedral of Silves is said to have accessible pathways, but in reality, it would be wise to research your destinations first to see how you are going to get around.

First-hand report

A colleague of mine has given me some insightful information. While in Lisbon with a hospitalised family member, he kindly offered to take another wheelchair user out for a ‘walk’, and like most non-chair users, getting about was an eye-opener. The calçada pavements leave you ‘stirred and shaken’ and the wheelchair ‘pusher’ can trip on them as you can’t see past the back of the passengers’ head! Pedestrian crossings may be ramped on one side of the road but not the other, so there is a serious risk of ‘face-planting’ the patient if you aren’t aware. However, electric wheelchairs with suspension etc, make the cobbles and calçada easier, but getting around shops is still difficult, and clothing shops are hardly ever wheelchair friendly at all. Goods are often hung too high or on circular ‘roundels’ that are hard to negotiate unless you have some ability to stand up. Even public service offices are hit and miss I was told - one office (that I won’t mention) you could get a wheelchair into, but the ticket machine was set near a wall where chair user couldn’t reach. Another had four steps up, which was finally negotiated with help, to find the photo machine wouldn’t come down low enough and he couldn’t be lifted up to get to it.

The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities praised Portugal in its report released in 2016 for making progress through the adoption of laws, plans and programmes, and cited the fact that 98 percent of students with disabilities attended regular schools here as far back as 2015. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a rough estimate shows there are 65 million wheelchair users worldwide, and this will increase as the global population ages, so we need to wise up.

Is the Algarve wheelchair friendly?

In short, the Algarve region has made strides in improving accessibility, with many towns and beaches offering facilities such as ramps, and destinations such as Faro, Lagos, and Albufeira have accessible options. Certainly, we are trying, and should really be given a pat on the back for that, but like everything else - check first.

Author

Marilyn writes regularly for The Portugal News, and has lived in the Algarve for some years. A dog-lover, she has lived in Ireland, UK, Bermuda and the Isle of Man. 

Marilyn Sheridan