More than 400 people walk Almuñecar so Alzheimer’s is not lived in silence

Families, neighbours and shop staff filled the streets of Almuñecar this week for a 3km charity walk that put carers, not speeches, at the centre of World Alzheimer’s month. AFAVIDA, the town association for relatives of people with Alzheimer’s, organised “Cada paso suma recuerdos” (Every step makes memories) with Almuñecar town hall and local businesses. Money raised goes straight into the association’s care and prevention programmes.

A loop from the stadium to the seafront

Walkers set off and finished at Francisco Bonet stadium. The route ran about three kilometres through the old town and along the front, taking in Carrera de la Concepcion, Avenida Rey Juan Carlos I and Paseo Puerta del Mar before turning back to the ground. At the finish, organisers laid on a healthy breakfast of local tropical fruit, including mango, plus bananas, then drew a raffle among people who had taken part.

Sports councillor Luis Aragon told the crowd that pinning on a race number is itself a message. “When someone puts on a bib, goes out walking with their family, or simply comes along to keep them company, they are also saying they do not want Alzheimer’s lived in silence,” he said. Behind every diagnosis, he added, sits a person, a family and stories that deserve company. Sport and solidarity, in his view, belong in the same sentence.

Carers get the last word

Social services councillor Maria del Carmen Reinoso turned the focus to the people who rearrange their lives around a relative. “When we talk about Alzheimer’s we are also talking about those who care, about those who reorganise their life to stay beside a family member, and about those who need support through a process that can be very long,” she said. Reinoso praised the work AFAVIDA does all year and said social services want to stay close to those families.

World Alzheimer’s Day came on September 21, however, Almuñecar decided to keep the awareness programme running into October so the conversation does not stop when the official date passes. AFAVIDA had already announced the walk, and a missing-person safety plan with the town hall, in the run-up to the day.

Alzheimer’s disease is the main cause of dementia. World Health Organisation figures put 57 million people living with dementia in 2021, with close to 10 million new cases a year. Alzheimer’s accounts for roughly 60 to 70 per cent of those cases. On the Costa Tropical, the practical answer this week was a bib, a seafront loop and a breakfast of mango.