History and Team

The moment Paco Arango, our founder, first crossed the threshold of Hospital Niño Jesús as a volunteer in 2001, he knew this was the place where he would stay and where he could give back for the good fortune he had had in life. Four years later, in 2005, he launched Fundación Aladina, an organization that benefits 2,000 children and teenagers with cancer and their families each year and collaborates with organizations in 14 countries worldwide.

Aladina pioneered a new philosophy in Spain: that healing requires more than medicine—it needs joy, play, and love. We brought comprehensive support to children with cancer and their families, with special attention to teenagers, who had long been forgotten.

The organization has become a reference in Spain for supporting pediatric cancer patients and their families, both for the innovation of its programs and therapies and for the recognition it has earned from Spanish society.

Currently, Fundación Aladina has more than 36,000 members who make the continuity of its activities and programs possible, along with the support of major donors and partners, who are essential for unique projects that improve patients’ lives—including the foundation’s great dream, Casa Aladina.

This support has allowed Aladina to invest €27M to date in programs and projects fundamental to children and teenagers with cancer and their families, and has committed another €21M over the next three years for renovation and creation of new infrastructure and program development.

*Aladina is part of the prestigious international St. Jude Global program—the first Spanish organization to achieve this—and is a member of the UICC (Union for International Cancer Control) and CCI (Childhood Cancer International).