Benidorm installs its first acoustic traffic lights at El Cruce, which blind pedestrians can activate using their mobile phones

Benidorm City Council has installed the city’s first acoustic pedestrian crossings at El Cruce that can be activated directly from the mobile phones of blind and visually impaired people. The new system, which uses the free ZebraCross app and Bluetooth technology, marks an improvement on conventional acoustic traffic lights, as it allows users to activate audible signals from their mobile devices without having to press the buttons located next to the traffic lights.

The system was tested on site on Wednesday by Mayor Toni Pérez, Councillor for Mobility Francis Muñoz and ONCE’s director in Benidorm, Sergio Barrera, among others.

The initiative places Benidorm among the first cities in the province of Alicante to adopt this technology. The director of ONCE in Benidorm welcomed the initiative and highlighted the importance of measures like this in improving the independence of people with visual impairments.

The app is easy to use. “You simply open it and press the button that appears as soon as you launch it, and the traffic lights at the crossing you want to use are activated,” Barrera explained. ZebraCross is available free of charge for mobile devices and connects to compatible traffic lights, allowing users to activate their audible signals directly from their phones.

Councillor for Mobility and Public Spaces Francis Muñoz highlighted the Council’s collaboration with ONCE to address accessibility needs across the city. “It is a tool they are familiar with and can use themselves,” he said. He added that the installation would make it possible to “remove the push-buttons currently installed next to the traffic lights”, automate the service and “improve communication between the traffic lights and the user”.

The system was previously tested at the traffic-light-controlled pedestrian crossing on Ruzafa Street in September 2025, during European Mobility Week, also in collaboration with ONCE.

Muñoz highlighted the City Council’s commitment to removing barriers and improving accessible routes, both for everyday journeys and for routes to workplaces and different modes of transport. “We always like to be pioneers, especially when it comes to accessibility solutions,” he said.

The locations where this technology will be introduced will be selected in collaboration with ONCE, which will provide the City Council with information about the routes regularly used by its members to help facilitate their journeys.

“Nowadays, everyone carries a mobile phone. You might forget anything else, but not your phone,” Barrera stressed. He welcomed the new option, which complements traditional activation systems and helps blind people cross the road with greater independence and safety.

 
Appointment of the New Director
 

The introduction of the new traffic-light system comes one day after the official swearing-in ceremony of Sergio Barrera as the new director of the ONCE agency in Benidorm. He succeeds Vicente Vázquez, who has now joined the organisation’s provincial management team. The ceremony took place on Tuesday afternoon in the City Council’s Plenary Hall and was attended by a large gathering of ONCE employees, members and senior officials.

Among those present were Enrique Llin, president of ONCE’s Territorial Council in the Valencian Community; Estela Medina, provincial director; agency directors from other parts of the province; and representatives of ONCE members and employees. The event was also attended by numerous members of Benidorm City Council, Senator Agustín Almodóbar, National Police Commissioner Luis Manuel Sánchez, and representatives of business and social organisations.

During the ceremony, the regional and provincial representatives of ONCE, along with the incoming director and his predecessor, all expressed their gratitude to Benidorm City Council for its close relationship and collaboration with the Spanish National Organisation for the Blind (ONCE). They also praised the measures implemented in recent years to make Benidorm a fully accessible city for everyone, regardless of their abilities.

They also highlighted ONCE’s significant presence in Benidorm, which accounts for 19% of the province’s revenue from lottery ticket sales, as well as the importance of the local agency, which coordinates almost 200 vendors across 49 municipalities in the Marina Baixa and Marina Alta areas.

Mayor Toni Pérez brought the ceremony to a close. Like the previous speakers, he began by wishing Sergio Barrera every success in his new role as head of the agency. He also thanked Vicente Vázquez for the joint work carried out over the four years he held the position, as well as Estela Medina and Enrique Llin for their continued support for the city.

Finally, Pérez reaffirmed the City Council’s commitment to strengthening its ties with ONCE and continuing to work together to “improve the lives of blind people and others with different abilities, especially those who live in the city, by implementing measures to further advance full accessibility, an area in which Benidorm is already a benchmark”.