World Day of Remembrance Lights Up the City

This Sunday, the Tibidabo, an emblematic building on a mountain overlooking will be illuminated as a symbol of Alliance member Asociación para la Prevención de Accidentes de Tráfico (P(A)T)’s “light of hope” for the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims (WDoR). The position of the building means that it will be visible across the city, raising awareness of WDoR and drawing attention to the avoidable tragedy of lives lost in road traffic crashes. Says Yolanda Doménech, Director of P(A)T, “The memorials or shared ceremonies help to facilitate the grieving process and we hope that this activity helps in this sense, but also that it can help raise awareness and make the magnitude of the issue more visible among society.”

In the chapel of Barcelona’s museum of history, residents will be able to see an exhibition entitled “The Faces of the Figures” that aims to show the lives cut short behind the cold figures of the road fatality statistics. The chapel will also be the venue for the interfaith service organized by P(A)T each year, accompanied by politicians, public representatives and decision makers in the chapel of the city’s museum of history. “We believe that it is important to respect the way of thinking, living, and believing of the whole world,” says Yolanda, “since in loss, emerges the most intimate convictions and spirituality. Road crashes affect families of all religions, all races or social status, therefore with the celebration of the interfaith ceremony, we have a collective memory for all of them and for the people and families who are suffering the terrible impact caused by road crashes.”

P(A)T, as a member of FEVR since 1995, have taken part in WDoR since its inception, running different activities in Spain. Yolanda is part of the FEVR team working alongside Jeannot Mersch and Brigitte Chaudhry in the significant task of organizing WDoR. Read more about P(A)T HERE, visit the official WDoR website HERE and find the Alliance’s WDoR toolkit HERE.