Or in English, Madrid Is With You. In December last year, Madrid City launched an app project for the elderly by the name of Madrid Te Acompaña (Madrid Is With You). It's a system for elderly Madrid residents aged 65 and over that lets them easily apply via the mobile phone app for the free services of a volunteer to accompany them, if needed, in various situations in daily life where they experience difficulty.


You scan the QR code in the pamphlet, fill in the necessary details and register, then you can access the page for booking the service you want.


This is the page for getting a volunteer to accompany you to an appointment with the doctor. You type in your appointment time and request that a volunteer accompany you．

This is the page for getting a volunteer to accompany you on a paseo (walk). You type in your desired time and place. I wonder if you can say that you want a good-looking young man, like on this page.


This is the page for getting a volunteer to accompany you for shopping. Isn’t it helpful to be able to get a fit young person to accompany you and carry the heavy groceries and so on you’ve bought at the supermarket, without asking for it to be delivered.


This is the page for getting a volunteer to help you complete procedures like filling out paperwork at public agencies. It must be a bother having to struggle with the officialese and having to put your glasses on and take them off the whole time.


This is the page for applying for a volunteer to take your pet for a walk, or to accompany you to the vet. There is the danger of seniors with reduced muscle strength being dragged along by their large dog.

This is the page for applying for a volunteer to go with you for some entertainment or leisure pursuit, like going to the library, movie theater, theater, and so on.


This is the page for applying for a volunteer to visit an elderly person in hospital. The volunteers spend time with people who are in the hospital alone, with no family or acquaintances to visit them.
By the way, Madrid’s population is currently 3,305,408 and the population aged 65 or over, the target for these services, is 636,393. One of the reasons a project like this was launched might be that relationships between people tend not to be so strong in large cities and the pandemic has only worsened the problem of loneliness among elderly people who live by themselves. You need to be able to use a smartphone to use the app, so although it might seem like a high hurdle to the elderly, the city government office responsible for the app has started smartphone classes for the elderly called Tecnomayores (Techno Seniors) and is providing various opportunities aimed at eliminating the digital divide for citizens generally labeled “IT illiterates.”
As someone who meets the eligibility requirements for the app but is managing things without help, I have decided that I myself will install the app because I too might need it before long.


In an emergency, the app connects to 112, the emergency phone number.