Spain
In 1067 the first leprosarium in Spain, at Palenca, was established. In 1677 Philip IV King of Spain signed a decree which stated that any person with leprosy would be isolated in hospital.
Historia de la lepra en España (History of Leprosy in Spain in Spanish)
ILEP Member, Fontilles Lucha contra la Lepra (SF), was founded in 1902 by a lawyer Don Joaquín Ballester and a Jesuit priest, Father Carlos Ferris, in order to offer an improved quality of life and treatment to a great number of leprosy patients in the Alicante and Valencia region. A hospital, the SF Colony Sanatorium - San Francisco de Borja, on the border of the Alicante and Valencia provinces, was opened in 1909, with the aim of performing a triple function: medical treatment, research and teaching. Since then adjusting to new needs in the fight against leprosy has been a first priority. This includes running annual courses for doctors, nurses and personnel working on anti-leprosy projects, and producing the only scientific leprosy journal in Spanish - Revista de Leprología Fontilles. SF has also been supporting or running an increasing number of international projects. SF became a Member of ILEP in 1969.
Visit the Fontilles website
ILEP Co-ordination
There is currently no ILEP National Co-ordinator for Spain.
News
Posted on 06/04/2009 by
On 17th January 1909, the “San Francisco de Borja” Sanatorium was opened to take care of leprosy patients, who had been suffering alone, isolated by a society fearful of this disease. It played a key role in the elimination of leprosy in Spain.
Categories: Members, News and Notes, Spain
Posted on 04/08/2008 by
This 30th July, San Ignacio’s Day, a supper was held at the San Francisco de Borja Sanitorium in honour of the work of Dr José Terencio de las Aguas, who raised scientific standards significantly at the San Francisco de Borja Sanitorium.
Of Further Interest
Journey from the Dark:
Leprosy in Spain and the United States in the 19th and 20th Centuries: the Norwegian Connection
by Kirsten Lolita Milnes
http://www.bodoni.no/bodoni/Bodoni-Forlag/Aktuelle-bøker/Journey-from-the-Dark