Exploring the accessible Costa Brava with Vive4all and Albert Cogul

On the S’Agaró coastal path, Albert Cogul, who is in a wheelchair, photographs the views of the sea. Image by Isabel Godoy.

Diving, sailing, gastronomy, wine tourism, history, therapeutic nature, awareness-raising… These are just some of the proposals included in a blogtrip organised at the end of the year by the Inclusive and Senior Tourism of the Costa Brava Girona Tourist Board. Two representatives of Vive4all, Montse Vivero and Carola Madrid, enjoyed the trip. This agency, which specialises in inclusive tourism, markets a tourism package that includes the Costa Brava for Wheel the World, an accessible tourism platform. Albert Cogul, a “dreamer and adventurer” with a spinal cord injury, joined the experience, highlighting the “hypnotic power” of the Costa Brava.

Coastal itinerary to discover the blue Mediterranean Sea

The stay in the Costa Brava began with a meeting with the promoters of Paddlesurf La Fosca, a project that offers adapted paddle surfing in Palamós. The representatives of Vive4all and Albert Cogul also had the opportunity to walk along the S’Agaró coastal path, an adapted itinerary thanks to a lift and several ramps that surrounds cliffs and runs along small coves among pine trees. And in Platja d’Aro, they took part in the second edition of the Murmuracions cycle, dedicated to inclusive tourism.

In the Murmuracions cycle, in the plenary hall of Platja d'Aro Town Hall, Albert gives his talk. Montse and Carola, from Vive4all, and Isabel, from the Tourism Board, listen attentively. Image by Diego Espada. — In the Murmuracions cycle, in the plenary hall of Platja d’Aro Town Hall, Albert gives his talk. Montse and Carola, from Vive4all, and Isabel, from the Tourism Board, listen attentively. Image by Diego Espada.

On the second day, they met with instructors specialised in adapted diving at the Club Nàutic l’Estartit and visited the sports facilities of the Club Nàutic l’Escala, which has several adapted boats for inclusive sailing. Still close to the sea, they strolled around the Empúries archaeological site, discovered the Citadel of Roses and enjoyed the sustainable oenological proposal of the La Vinyeta winery.

Urban and natural itinerary in Girona

The third and last day of the blogtrip was devoted to the city of Girona. Representatives from the city’s Tourist Office showed them the new accessible materials available to the organisation and took them on an accessible cultural tour of the Jewish quarter and the old town. The icing on the cake was to enjoy the Palau-sacosta therapeutic forest, an urban forest that forms part of the Network of Healthy Forests and Therapeutic Forest Itineraries.

At the beginning of a path that leads into the forest, Albert, Montse and Carola listen to their guide's indications before starting the walk through a therapeutic forest. Image by Isabel Godoy. — *At the beginning of a path that leads into the forest, Albert, Montse and Carola listen to their guide’s indications before starting the walk through a therapeutic forest. Image by Isabel Godoy.*

Next June, the influencer Cory Lee will be enjoying the delights of the Costa Brava. The blogger will be part of a group of eight people, four of them wheelchair users, who will visit the province of Girona on a trip organised by the Vive4all agency. Wheel the World collaborates with the trip. It is a platform that offers accessible trips to more than a dozen destinations around the world, including the Costa Brava and Girona.