On 25th January the plenary hall of the Town Hall hosted the institutional act of naming Dr. Yusuf Hamied, benefactor of the Cudeca Foundation, as Adopted Son of Benalmádena.

Here is the article from SUR in English

Benalmadena's affectionate 'adoption' of Yusuf Hamied

The decision was taken unanimously at a council meeting several months ago but it was on Wednesday this week that it came into effect. Yusuf Hamied, who has done so much to support the Cudeca cancer care hospice association, officially became an Hijo Adoptivo (adopted son) of Benalmádena.

The 86-year-old is renowned worldwide for his work in the field of pharmaceutics and research and is particularly known for his efforts to eradicate illnesses such as Aids and striving to ensure that affordable medication and treatments are available worldwide.

Cudeca was founded by Joan Hunt, a British woman living on the Costa del Sol whose husband died from cancer in 1991. She worked tirelessly to improve the lives of patients with cancer and other advanced illnesses for the rest of her life, but there is no doubt that its recent success is partly due to the financial support from Yusuf Hamied, who began to help the project from the moment he became aware of it. It was also due to his investment that the Institute of Studies and Research into Palliative Care was set up beside the Cudeca hospice in 2022.

Hamied referred to the Institute during his speech on Wednesday.

"Now that the Centre for Studies and Research is up and running, and as my wife and I feel like two children who have been adopted by the town of Benalmádena, we are eager to find out what else we can do; what new projects we can take on," he said.

Mayor of Benalmádena Víctor Navas said that Yusuf Hamied's generosity and work was ongoing: "With his support it is going to be possible to complete Cudeca's project to turn Joan Hunt's house into a paediatric unit to care not only for children who need palliative care but their families as well," he said.