Rafa Nadal and the Foundation, protagonists of TVE show “Donde viajan dos”

The Rafa Nadal Foundation and Rafa Nadal have been protagonists of the television show “Donde viajan dos”, which was aired last Friday, October 23rd, on TVE La 1. Rafa Nadal was one of the guests that welcomed Jesús Vidal and El Langui on their visit to Mallorca. He told them, first hand, about the work he has been carrying out with his organization for ten years. The show is available on-demand through the following link:

“Life has treated me much better than I could have ever dreamed, so I somehow feel the obligation to help. And this is what we decided ten years ago when we created the Rafa Nadal Foundation”, the tennis player explains. Since then, the Majorcan’s foundation has evolved into a referent regarding the use of sports as a vehicle for personal and social development, bringing the inherent values and learning of the practice of sport into disadvantaged backgrounds and groups at risk of social exclusion.

When asked about inclusion and diversity, Nadal states that “it is important that we accept ourselves the way we are, with our problems, our virtues, our limits… and from there, learning that each person is special, and that we can be very good at something and not as good at other things. We have to embrace what we have and be happy with it”.

Besides the conversation with Rafa Nadal, Jesús Vidal (Goya award-winning actor for the film Campeones) and Juan Manuel Montilla, aka El Langui (famous rapper and actor, winner of two Goya awards) had the opportunity to see him train as well as to participate in a More than Tennis session, one of the Rafa Nadal Foundation’s projects, which is addressed to young people with intellectual disabilities.

During the show, the two hosts also visit the foundation’s center for children and young in vulnerable situations that is located in Palma. There they were welcomed by María Francisca Perelló, director of the foundation, who explains the different projects undertaken by the organization, highlighting the capacity of empowerment that sport entails: “Sport is a powerful tool, and together with education, the results that can be obtained are very positive”, she explains.

After ten years of work, “the goal is to keep growing and increase the number of projects, as well as continue helping, trying to make children happy and to create future opportunities for them”, she concludes.