Cancer charity says free support is fully funded for Fuerteventura patients and families
The Spanish cancer association has supported 287 people in Fuerteventura so far in 2026, offering free psychological, social work and physiotherapy services.
Cancer patients and their families in Fuerteventura can access free support without joining the Spanish Association Against Cancer, the president of its island board, Isabel Laucirica, has said. She said the charity’s national organisation contributes more money to the island than the local board raises, fully funding its services.
The association has supported 287 people in Fuerteventura so far in 2026: 216 cancer patients and 71 family members. Laucirica said integration into the national organisation had overcome financial difficulties that previously constrained the island association’s work.
What support is available?
The association has four full-time staff and provides psychological support from diagnosis onwards, including help for patients, relatives and friends, as well as bereavement support.
Its social worker handles financial assistance, travel for treatment outside Fuerteventura, accommodation where needed and access to orthopaedic and prosthetic equipment. The charity also has a bank of around 100 wigs and provides headscarves and other products for people undergoing treatment.
Physiotherapy includes individual care, home visits for people with mobility difficulties and exercise programmes adapted to different stages of illness. Patients can also access specialists in other provinces remotely and receive advice on work incapacity, sick leave and other needs arising from a diagnosis.
Research and Puerto del Rosario exhibition
Laucirica said 20% of income from membership fees, private donations, business contributions and fundraising activities goes directly to research. The association allocated €500,000 to research in 2025 from the province of Las Palmas, which includes Fuerteventura, Lanzarote and Gran Canaria. The funding supports projects in the Canary Islands and fellowships for researchers.
The travelling exhibition Conectando Vidas, which highlights the need to sustain cancer research, can be visited at the Casa de la Cultura in Puerto del Rosario until 30 November. Laucirica said the association aims to reach an average cancer survival rate of 70% by 2030, with particular attention to cancers that remain harder to treat.