Pallapupas, hospital clowns | Barcelona

‘Llevar la risa a los espacios de dolor es posible… mejora la salud física y emocional de las personas enfermas’ (‘Bringing laughter into places of pain is possible… it improves the physical and emotional health of people who are ill’), says the founder of Pallapupas in a TEDx Barcelona talk.

Angie Rosales realised this when she went on a training course to become a hospital clown: laughter and humour are not at odds with whatever circumstances life throws at you. And she quotes Viktor Frankl: ‘If it’s not in your hands to change a situation that causes you pain, you can always choose the attitude with which you face that suffering.’

That’s what Pallapupas do (‘palla’ from pallassos, Catalan for clowns, and ‘pupas’, the word children use in Spanish when they’ve hurt themselves). They are hospital clowns who bring smiles to people in hospital, young and old alike.

The Pallapupas clowns are professionally trained actors with specific training for working in hospitals. Each performance is tailored to the individual, taking into account the patient’s physical and mental state, information the medical staff provide before the performance.

Pallapupas carry out artistic interventions in the healthcare centres they partner with, following working protocols agreed with each of them.

I’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate this group and thank them for all the support they give patients and their families.

Would you like to help fill hospitals with life-giving laughter?

Visit the Pallapupas website and find out about all their work and the different ways you can help.