Queen Sofía opens ALS conference

Queen Sofía of Spain opened a conference on Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) in La Roda.

The Queen opened the III International ALS Congress “Manolo Barrós,” on 22 June.

The conference brought “together international experts, researchers, healthcare professionals and patient associations, with the aim of promoting the exchange of knowledge, boosting research and increasing awareness of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS),” Casa Real said.

The latest advances in ALS (also called ELA in Spain) were discussed, as well as strategies to battle the incurable disease. Researchers, healthcare professionals, and representatives of those affected by ALS also attended the event and spoke to Her Majesty. One of the attendees, Juan Ramón Amores (the Mayor of La Roda), has been battling ALS for ten years and has become a symbol of strength and perseverance in Spain.

The Queen meets the Mayor of La Roda, who suffers from ALS. © Casa de SM el Rey

The event included performances from the group Vermú, and pianist and composer Óscar Molina performed his song, “ALS and I,” which was written to support victims of ALS and their families.

The conference is associated with the “Manolo Barrós” project, which the Queen Sofía Foundation created. It aims to identify “diagnostic biomarkers for ALS through the study of extracellular vesicles.”

The conference is being held from 22 June to 23 June as part of the celebrations of World ALS Day on 21 June.

Queen Sofía is dedicated to bringing awareness to neurodegenerative diseases. She is not the only royal who has helped in the fight against the deadly disease. Princess Ariane of the Netherlands swam to raise money for ALS research in 2025, following in her mother, Queen Máxima’s footsteps. The Dutch Queen swam in the same murky canals in September 2012.

A full list of those helping in the fight against ALS can be found here.

The Mayo Clinic describes ALS this way: “ALS often begins with muscle twitching and weakness in an arm or leg, trouble swallowing or slurred speech. Eventually, ALS affects control of the muscles needed to move, speak, eat and breathe. There is no cure for this fatal disease.”

Symptoms vary from person to person, with most developing issues in their extremities. However, in its most progressive state, the illness begins where it ends – in the mouth, throat and lungs.

You can learn more about ALS from the Mayo Clinic here.