Record 5,600 people walk and run against cancer in Ferrol, Spain

The streets of Ferrol, a shipbuilding city in Galicia, north-west Spain, turned green again on Sunday 8 November. More than 5,600 people walked and ran in the 13th edition of “Ferrol, en marcha contra o cancro”, the highest turnout in its history, according to the Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC) in A Coruña. The goal had been 5,000.

“It was a great day of solidarity, commitment and unity in the fight against cancer,” the AECC said in the email in which it sent us its press release and photos.

A thousand more people than last year

The event had already set a record in 2025, with more than 4,500 participants at its 12th edition. This year it added more than a thousand. A few days earlier, Isabel Estevan, president of the AECC’s local board in Ferrol, told the Diario de Ferrol newspaper that the city and its surrounding area turn out for these events more than A Coruña or Santiago: “We have the image of a depressed city, but in Ferrol and the area around it we are very generous.”

Walkers pass under the Ferrol arch. Photo: AECC A Coruña (shared with Happy News of the Day).

Where the money goes

The AECC uses the money for cancer research, which Estevan calls the priority, and to keep its free services for patients and families running. In Ferrol, she says, these include psychologists, a social worker, speech therapy, physiotherapy and a wig bank. The charity has not yet said how much this year’s event raised.

A hug at the finish. Photo: AECC A Coruña (shared with Happy News of the Day).

Two participants cross the finish line. Photo: AECC A Coruña (shared with Happy News of the Day).