Everything is ready in Madrid for the solidarity concert #PorUnMundoSinELA (for a world without ALS) that will take place on Saturday 31^st of January in the Barclaycard Center. The concert, that will bring together big names of the Spanish music industry, will raise funds for FUNDELA and Project MinE. As explained in the press conference that took place last December by Carlos Matallanas, the ALS patient that promoted the concert, by the president of FUNDELA, Prof. Jesús Mora Pardina, and by the vice-president Teresa Solas, this concert will be a unique occasion where thousands of people will dance and sing for those 4.000 Spanish ALS patients that cannot longer do it but also for the people that develop this fatal disease in the future. In doing so, the music aficionados will support the research supported by FUNDELA and especially Project MinE. More info.

The promotion of the concert has taken momentum in the last weeks and is receiving a great coverage in the Spanish media. Several of the artists that will be performing gave a press conference presenting the concert and explaining their motivation. As explained by Amaral “the real protagonist will be the people that live with ALS 365 days of the year and the researchers that are trying to find ways to fight this disease”.

In addition the concert has received the support of many well known names of the Spanish cultural scene that will get ‘wet’ (‘mojarse’ in Spanish also means ‘get involved’, with reference to the ice bucket challenge). Especially important has been the support from the world of the Spanish sport community and in particular the footballers. The three La Liga teams of the Spanish capital Atletico de Madrid, Real Madrid and Rayo Vallecano have given full support to the initiative, starting from their coaches Diego Pablo Simeone, Carlo Ancelotti and Paco Jémez and including many of their players such as the Project MinE ambassador Fernando Torres, Iker Casillas and the recent Ballon d’or Cristiano Ronaldo. Other great footballers from the Spanish league have also joined the fight against ALS together with Spanish players and some of their international team mates from the English Premier League and the Bundesliga.

All this media coverage has helped to explain what ALS really is, raising awareness about ALS in Spain and will be a great boost for the work of FUNDELA and Project MinE. Many people in Spain have already made Project MinE theirs!