Palma.The Princess of Asturias, wife to the heir to the Spanish throne - Prince Felipe - was in Majorca yesterday on a visit to the Handisport foundation which specialises in providing sporting equipment for the disabled.
It was at around midday when the Princess arrived at the Golf Maioris Mallorca hotel in the municipality of Llucmajor where the Handisport Foundation had laid on a display of their equipment and arranged for a selection of managers and disabled sportsmen to greet her.
The location in Llucmajor had been chosen despite the fact that nearly all the foundation's activities are based in Calvia.
Doña Letizia also drew attention during her two hour tour of the facilities to the in-roads that the Handisport foundation has made into promoting specialist tourism in the Balearics.
The Princess met with the management of the foundation which is a non-profit making institution. One aim of the founders is to increase the channels for the handicapped to integrate more easily into mainstream society through the use of the specially adapted sports equipment.
Doña Letizia, accompanied amongst others by the President of the Balearic Islands, José Ramón Bauzá and Central Government Delegate, Ramón Socías, took time out to chat to some of the disabled sportsmen under the patronage of the foundation.
The Princess was presented to Sebastian Lorente, European disabled golf champion.
The founder, Rafael Winchelman and its president Cristina Martín explained to the Princess how the organisation had started in 2006 when a group of people combined forces to tackle the problems that the disabled have in integrating completely into mainstream society.
Handisport is a private foundation which aims to promote such integration through sporting activities. The facilities are for everyone who can benefit from them, not just those living on Majorca.
It was pointed out to Doña Letizia that 100 percent of the income of the foundation is devoted to the good of the disabled community and researching ways in which the handicapped can appreciate and benefit from being in contact with the natural environment.
The programme of assistance to the disabled has sparked a new form of tourism to Majorca and created local employment. Assistance is given to the handicapped coming from the mainland and other European locations who want to enjoy sporting activity in the company of their friends and families.
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