About 50 times a day, a person goes missing. According to the Report by the National Centre for Missing Persons, only during the year 2022 in Spain, 20,000 reports were registered for this reason. The Institutional Declaration made by the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces and the QSD Global Foundation begins with these figures.

Last Thursday, 9th of March, the patron of this foundation and sister of missing person Juan Antonio Gómez, read the Declaration at the Mijas Town Hall in the plenary hall. Carmen Gómez said that “there are thousands of families who have a missing loved one, not much is known, so we must continue to fight for this to be a more visible cause and for there to be more help. We ask the security forces for more training and specialisation, more resources, both human and material, and more communication with the families”.

Five missing persons
n Mijas, five people are missing. Nothing is known of the hiker Juan Antonio Gómez Alarcón, missing since 2010, Amy Fitzpatrick, since 2008, as well as Isabel María Cortés; while Francisco Ruiz Galán, went missing in 2011 and John Martin Leach, in 2012. The mayor of Mijas, Josele González (PSOE), addressed the families during the act: “I want to send a message of encouragement to the families of Amy Fitzpatrick, Isabel María Cortés, Francisco Ruiz Galán, John Martin Leach and, especially, to the family of our neighbour Juan Antonio Gómez Alarcón, who is, truly, the one who has given the deserved visibility to this day every year”.

Behind every disappearance there is “a family drama, a burden and an emotional toll”, said Gómez, which weighs heavily. That is why the Mijas Town Hall, assured the mayor, will continue to stand by the neighbours who keep searching for their loved ones. “In Mijas, every year we strive, not only to ensure that this day is remembered, that it has visibility, but we also look for different ways to maintain the memory of the missing people in our municipality and, especially, of Juan Antonio Gómez Alarcón, as we did with the inauguration of the viewpoint that bears his name at the foot of the Sierra de Mijas, the one he loved and knew so well”, added González.

An add to raise awareness
Mijas Comunicación, with the collaboration of the theatre workshop of the Open University in Mijas, has produced an advertisement with which it aims to raise awareness about the prevention of the disappearance of elderly persons.

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