An advocacy group, known as Down España, for children with Down syndrome in Spain was recently looking for a venue to house their end-of-term celebration. An obvious possibility was the extravagant CaboGata Plaza Suites in the coastal town of Almeria.

When a worker from the organization called to ask about pricing for the group to stay in the hotel, the response was distasteful to say the least. The worker was told the hotel could not accommodate "guests with mental disabilities" adding that "this has happened before."

Similar to the Americans with Disabilities Act, many European countries including Spain have implemented the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The ruling states "that everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth therein, without distinction of any kind."

Now management from the hotel has issued a formal apology stating the incident was a "misunderstanding" and that "in 35 years of business [it has] never refused access to guests with Down syndrome," who they said, "have been, are, and always will be very welcome."

Representatives from the hotel also stated they were under the impression that this was a group of mentally handicapped individuals they had dealt with before. According to the Local.es, the incident with the other group of people with mental disabilities got "very confrontational."

Down España has reported the incident to a public prosecutor to ensure this kind of discrimination does not go ignored. Agustin Matia, director of the nonprofit, stated, "We haven't gone public with this incident to victimize anyone but to educate the public."