Catalonia's annual blood drive results in more than 9,500 donations

Catalonia's annual blood donation drive (La Marató de Donants de Sang de Catalunya) has resulted in 9,553 donations across Catalonia.  

The campaign took place between January 11 and 19, and although the goal was to get 10,000 donations, assistant director of the public blood bank, Joan Ramon Grífos, said that the goal was “practically” reached, stressing that the number of donations this year was “much higher than last year.”  

Furthermore, this year’s blood drive has received many donations from people between 18 and 25 years old.  

The results of the drive were unveiled on the Plaça de la Font in Tarragona. There, an augmented reality human tower will change its color from white to red as more donations will come in until mid-June 2024.  

70,000 people will need blood transfusions  

At the launch of this year's donation drive on Tuesday, the Blood and Tissue Bank said it estimated that more than 70,000 people admitted to hospitals throughout Catalonia during 2024 will need a transfusion of blood, plasma or platelets from blood donations.  

The organization calculates that over the course of the year more than 260,000 donations will be needed to cover the demand.  

Drop in donations in 2023   

According to data from the Blood Bank, donations made during 2023 fell throughout Catalonia compared to the previous year, especially in the province of Barcelona.  

Last year 247,677 donations were made throughout Catalonia, while in 2022 there were 253,494.  

In the Barcelona region, 170,122 donations were made in 2023, down from 173,897 in 2022.  

In Girona, donations also fell from 30,550 to 29,348, while in Tarragona donations went from just over 32,000 in 2022 to 31,115 last year.  

Lleida was the only region where donations increased slightly in 2023, to 17,092.