Xavier Pàmies, a 66-year-old translator, suffered a retinal detachment in 2007 while on holiday in Northern Europe. "These things always happen in the summer," he explains with a laugh. But the incident was serious and required emergency intervention at the Vall d'Hebron Hospital. After two retinal operations, two cataract operations, and a late diagnosis of glaucoma, this patient is now stabilized and maintains "reasonably good vision between both eyes." He is one of the more than 200 patients who have passed through the new Myopia Unit at Vall d'Hebron, integrated into the Ophthalmology Service and located at the Pere Virgili Health Park; a service that aims to respond to a condition estimated to affect half the population by 2050.

For most, it's their first eye exam, and they arrive a little nervous. But the circuit set up to check visual acuity, eye convergence, and diopters is like a game, and little by little, the children sit down and listen to the instructions of the volunteer professionals. "Maybe they'll give me glasses because I can't see the blackboard from far away," explains seven-year-old Yovor. Like him, around fifty children and adolescents will pass through the rooms set up as small opticians at the Pere Tarrés Foundation's Raval Socio-Educational Center to help vulnerable families pay for their exams and also for glasses should they ultimately need them.

When Rosa first opened her eyes the day after her nearsightedness surgery, she couldn't believe she could see the numbers on her alarm clock perfectly clearly. She was 32 at the time, and she hadn't been able to see anything without glasses for 26 years. "When I went to the beach and got into the water, I had to have a visual reference. A red umbrella and a blue one next to it. And when I got out of the water, I had to look for a red spot and a blue one," explains this journalist, illustrating what life is like with ten diopters.