The Jacobean Foundation wants to support the candidacy of Mr. Francisco Javier Pitillas Torra, founder of DisCamino [http://discamino.org/es/sample-page/], for the Princess of Asturias Award for Concord.
In 2009 Mr. Francisco Javier Pitillas Torra, a renowned policeman and athlete, made a commitment to solidarity: create an association to help people with disabilities travel the Camino de Santiago.
It all started with the pilgrimage of Gerardo, a deaf-blind boy from Vigo who in 2009 managed to travel the Camino pedaling on a co-pilot, a kind of tricycle donated to him by a Dutchman. Javier Pitillas accompanied and helped Gerardo fulfill his dream and, once he had completed it, decided to take on Gerardo’s request to help other people like himself: DisCamino was the answer.
Currently, DisCamino has a team of 90 people, all of them volunteers, who have made possible in these 11 years of existence the pilgrimage of 115 people with different disabilities. In total, there are already 72 Roads traveled, including very long itineraries such as the one that connects the city of Santiago with Rome, the French Way from Roncesvalles, the Vía de la Plata from different points of Andalusia, etc.
For all these reasons, we consider that the Princess of Asturias Award for Concord would constitute a well- deserved recognition of the work of a caring and generous person, but also a form of support and solidarity so that the work of Javier Pitillas and his team can continue and many people with disabilities will be able to fulfill their dream of traveling the Camino de Santiago.
Juan Luis Viñas Landin
President of the Jacobea Foundation
To support the candidacy, you can download and cover the following letter:
