Although handicapped travel parking badges are supposed to be widely recognized, a reader found that the local authorities in Barcelona would not recognize his pass.
Occasionally, I have written about handicapped parking passes. I did my homework and found the agreements that should let holders of passes from Canada or the U.S. use their passes in the European Union.
A reader wrote to say that the city authorities in Barcelona, Spain only accepted their own local passes, which were not available to non-residents.
My advice to him was to pursue this before going back to Spain, if he could, and to see if the U.S. Embassy in Spain might help. (He is an American). I suggested some other agencies to contact, including the official tourism agency of the Spanish government.
This sort of problem is most unfortunate, because it creates uncertainty for people who are travelling, and especially for people with disabilities who are travelling. When there is more than one set of rules in operation, the traveller has to try and guess which ones will be in place when he gets there.
I would encourage readers to check as many local information sources as they can, to try and find out how things will be on the ground. I read bulletin boards and reports from travellers from all over the world, and I suggest that readers also search out a few of these. They don't have to be for people with disabilities - any recent traveller or local resident could be a helpful source.
Surprisingly enough, I am finding Facebook to have a lot of groups interested in accessibility and travel. I am not recommending Facebook in particular, but suggesting that readers look around for websites where there are active discussion boards on travel topics. There are many out there, catering to different tastes.
Please share your own good or bad experiences in whatever way is easiest for you - there's always someone who will find it useful.
