Thousands of people are trapped in their homes by the problem of accessibility of the real estate Spanish

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In Spain there are about a million buildings without an elevator and, within ten years, 25% of the Spanish population will be older than 65 years. What is more, 37% of the buildings are not accessible from the public road, the 28% of the elevators are not accessible from the portal, the 43% of them need to improve their conditions of accessibility and there are still some 300,000 buildings of four or more floors without an elevator. These barriers are the ones that you wish to delete the company Zardoya Otis , responsible for the design, manufacture, installation and maintenance of lifting equipment, escalators and platforms.

For this reason, the signature Spanish —a result of the merger and acquisition of other small and medium-sized national companies—, which operates in Spain, Portugal and Morocco, has a unit dedicated to address the barriers, not only architectural, but also cognitive and sensory. And is that the inaccessibility of Spanish homes is a real problem; the General Council of Administrators of Estates of Spain (CGCAFE) estimated that in 77% of the real estate on which it would be necessary to carry out construction works of rehabilitation , and remodeling, have not been carried out.

in Addition, of the 2.5 million people with reduced mobility in Spain, 1.8 million (74%) need help to get out of their houses with family and friends, while other 100.000 can’t ever leave , according to the Spanish Confederation of People with Physical Disability and Organic (COCEMFE).

Innovation to bridge barriers

With a turnover of 395 million euros in the first half of this year and more than 250,000 units in maintenance, Zardoya Otis markets its products, which are manufactured in Madrid, San Sebastian and Vigo, all over the world. One of the most revolutionary, the lift sun , that works without connection to the mains and with zero emissions.

In regard to the objective of making accessible the space, the company has designed a lift for a single person , which occupies less than a square meter and that will be on sale in the coming months. In terms of barriers, sensory, Otis joined in 1989, the Braille in all its hand-held pendant stations, being the first company in the industry to collaborate with the ELEVEN for their standardization. In addition, the elevators of the firm are equipped with an audiovisual system to allow communication in the cabin both with visually impaired people, as with people with hearing disabilities.

In line with this policy active, Zardoya Otis has called this year the awards “For a world without barriers” . These awards have as objective to value the work of people and organizations that contribute to the elimination of barriers; in this case, not only physical or architectural, but also sensory, cognitive, and of any kind.

the verdict of The jury will be the next October 15 , and will reward two categories. The distinction “Ascentia”, which recognise the best products and projects of I+D+i that contribute to the elimination of barriers. And the distinction of “Golden mean”, which will recognize the best initiatives of people who are or have been leaders in removing barriers.