Miguel Coello and his childhood friend created MetroCiego, an app to navigate Madrid’s metro independently

For Miguel Coello, navigating the Madrid metro as a blind person often meant memorizing routes, exits, and transfers station by station. Every new journey required mental notes to avoid getting lost. When he realized this information was not easily accessible anywhere, he decided to create a solution himself.

In 2017, at 18 years old, Miguel Coello and his childhood friend Gonzalo Fuentes created Metrociego Madrid, an accessible mobile app designed to help blind and low-vision users navigate the Madrid metro system independently. The project was developed in Madrid, Spain, combining Miguel’s lived experience as a visually impaired metro user with Gonzalo’s software development skills.

Metrociego provides detailed audio-guided descriptions of metro stations, including directions between platforms, exits, corridors, elevators, and transfers. The app is designed to work with screen readers, offering simple and structured navigation instructions adapted to the needs of blind users.

To launch the project, Miguel and Gonzalo created a crowdfunding campaign that funded the first version of the app, initially covering 25 stations. By 2019, Metrociego had expanded to 66 stations, including the full mapping of Madrid’s Line 6, one of the busiest lines in the network, and also launched an Android version of the app.

Over time, the platform continued growing with the support of hundreds of collaborators helping map stations across Madrid. Today, Metrociego includes information for more than 150 stations and continues evolving with features such as real-time train information, service alerts, and multilingual accessibility options.

For Miguel, the goal was never to create complex technology, but to solve a real everyday accessibility challenge. Metrociego has helped visually impaired users travel more independently through the city, reducing the need to ask for assistance and increasing confidence when using public transportation.

Adapted from:
https://www.infobae.com/espana/2025/10/29/metrociego-la-aplicacion-para-...
https://portal.once.es/empleado/publicaciones/asi-somos/asi-somos-1/asi-...
For more information visit:
https://www.metrociego.com/about/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYXFFAVZ48k&pp=ygULbWV0cm9jaWVnbyA%3D