Documentary highlights advocates with intellectual disabilities in Spain
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Plena Inclusión España created a documentary, ‘El Poder de las Personas’ (The Power of People), which features activists with intellectual disabilities in Spain fighting for full citizenship.
The film shares first-person accounts of leaders with intellectual and developmental disabilities and the organizations they participate in. Their advocacy has helped secure basic rights for over 400,000 people with intellectual and developmental disabilities living in Spanish communities.
The documentary emphasizes self-representation and leadership as key to overcoming barriers that previously limited participation in decision-making spaces. Ana Martínez, an activist representing Spain on the European Platform of Self-Advocates, and ‘Los que No se Rinden’ (Those Who Don’t Give Up), Spain’s first association run entirely by people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, are featured.
Leaders like Horacio Peláez and Maribel Cáceres also share their experiences, along with voices from government officials including Pablo Bustinduy, minister of Social Rights, Consumption and Agenda 2030. ‘El Poder de las Personas’ details milestones in this collective struggle, including a 2018 electoral law reform that restored voting rights to over 100,000 people and the 2021 creation of the State Platform of Representatives of People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.
The documentary argues that participation isn’t just a right, but a vital tool for fighting invisibility, prejudice, and infantilization. While acknowledging progress, the film also points to ongoing challenges with access to information, employment, housing, and representation in organizations.
