Vicente Bujosa reaches Ibiza Parador in a wheelchair: “I was able to reach Dalt Vila using the lift — I had been waiting 30 years for this moment”

“I have been waiting more than 30 years for this”, Vicente Bujosa said while standing in the centre of the Patio de Armas at the Parador de Ibiza. His wheelchair drew more attention than his fluorescent orange sweatshirt, and some of the visitors attending Sunday’s open day approached him to ask how he had managed it.

Bujosa admitted he felt emotional. Since he was a child, he had not been able to reach the old town. He remembered that the last time he walked through its cobbled streets was in 1987, when he was seven years old and his father was still alive. This sunny Sunday it was finally possible, he explained, thanks to the lift at the hotel, which connects the Parador’s car park in the Es Soto area with the rest of the complex.

“I came a bit on an adventure”, he said. Before Sunday, he explained, he had phoned the Parador and spoken “with someone at reception” to ask whether he could use the lift in the car park “in order to get up”. They told him he could.

So that morning he took bus number 10, where he found — he complained — that the ramp was not working. “And the buses are new”, he said ironically. Later, once in Ibiza Town, he shared a taxi with other people attending the Parador’s open days who were also unable to walk up to the highest point of Dalt Vila.

While speaking with this reporter, the women with whom he shared the taxi were also in the Patio de Armas, beneath the characteristic blue sails stretched across the courtyard, exchanging their first impressions of the venue.

“The Parador staff have helped me a lot”, said the young man, who had already spent some time exploring the space and was preparing to visit the bedrooms and the restaurant.

So far, what he had seen regarding the accessibility of the building seemed satisfactory to him. He noted that some of the ramps “do not fully meet regulations”, but explained that this was due to the building being historic and that little more could be done.

“I understand it — in cases like this you cannot do much more”, he said. The bathrooms, however, had impressed him: “They are amazing”.

Bujosa has followed the construction works at the Parador de Ibiza for years precisely because he was aware of what that lift could mean for him. He closely followed the project and knows about the changes in location the lift underwent following archaeological discoveries.

“I understand it”, said the Ibizan resident, who insists that all people with reduced mobility should be able to use the Parador lift from now on to visit Dalt Vila. “We must remember that it was said it would be for public use”, he pointed out.

He would love, he admitted, to be able to move around Dalt Vila in his wheelchair more often. He knows exactly when he would most like to do it: during the Ibiza Medieval festival. He has never been able to see it in full. Until now, he has never been able to go beyond the Marina, Vara de Rey or the Mercat Vell.

“I want to see it for the first time in my life”, he insisted. “The lower part is fine, but it is always the same. Different Ibiza Town councils have expanded the festival area and that is very good, but because of accessibility I have never been able to see the medieval market up here”, he said.

He is concerned that the possibility for people with reduced mobility to use the lift might be limited only to these two open days or to those who have reservations at the hotel, restaurant or café.

He explained that he asked four employees whether it would be possible to use it “without disturbing guests”.

“Three of them told me no, but the deputy manager gave me a card and told me that whenever I need it I should call and ask”.

Although pleased with the response, Bujosa does not want this to be seen as “a favour”. Instead, he believes all wheelchair users should be able to visit Dalt Vila thanks to the Parador lift.

“We are in the 21st century”, Bujosa stressed, recalling that for the moment people like him have no other way to reach the highest part of the historic centre because, as he pointed out, “the minibuses are not adapted”.

From Paradores, officials stated that the lift will indeed be available: “Although the lift will not be permanently open for general public use, it will always be available for people with special needs if they request its use from the Parador staff, through the reception staff at the car park”.

Before continuing his exploration of the Parador de Ibiza, Vicente Bujosa said that his Sunday plan, once he left the building, was “to spend the day” travelling through Dalt Vila.

“To go down from here to the town centre”, he said.

For the first time in 30 years.

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