Through their efforts, Pamesa Cerámica and Mercadona prioritise innovation and make it visible to the world. So much so that the two firms have given their full support to a social commitment project that has enabled more than 1,000 people with intellectual disabilities to create 1,650 new murals in Mercadona’s stores during 2017.
Pamesa provides pieces of ceramic tile for social organisations to create these decorative panels using the trencadís technique. Thanks to this project, these people have the opportunity to train, work and develop their capacity for effort, concentration and teamwork. As a social and sustainable activity, this creative, highly skilled work is part of the transformation process introduced under Mercadona’s New Efficient Store Model. The new trencadís murals now have a larger design attuned to the stores’ fresh image.
Ana Zambrana, manager of La Xara Occupational Centre, states that “we have joined this project because these murals offer the opportunity to show the community at large that people with an intellectual disability are just as capable as the rest of the population. It is a chance to demonstrate this to the thousands of customers who see the murals every day in Mercadona’s stores”.
In turn, Arantxa Roig, manager of the Roig Alfonso Foundation, who has been with the project since its beginnings, considers that the initiative “helps people with an intellectual disability to integrate both socially and in the world of employment. Their self-esteem and self-confidence are boosted tremendously when they see how Mercadona’s customers admire their work and regard them as true artists”.
A long-standing project
The project, which Mercadona and Pamesa Cerámica first set up in 2011, goes back to the supermarket firm’s store in Calle Roger de Lauria, Valencia, where the first trencadís mural was installed. Between 2011 and 2017, over 1,000 people with an intellectual disability have worked on more than 5,000 different murals, which today are a distinguishing symbol of Mercadona’s stores.