Seeing someone with blue blood roll up their sleeves and fight for their own project is not common, but in the life of Maximilian of Habsburg nothing is. Is descendant of Charles II of Spainthe last member of the Habsburgs to rule in Castilian lands, since he had no descendants. The archduke is second nephew of Queen Sofiaand his mother, now deceased, was a cousin of Queen Elizabeth II. Now, he is sixty-three years old and has been living between Spain and England for twenty-five years. In the 80s he fell in love with Madrid and what was then called the ‘Madrid scene’ and in the 90s he lost his sister, who was only 24 years old, due to an overdose, which led him to leave the night and use his resources to create the Recal Foundation in 2001.
A non-profit institution that continues to operate today and helps those people who have been affected by some type of addiction reintegrate into society. Until now, his mission has focused on drugs, since it is the problem that he experienced very closely. Now, he intends to go one step further, with its new unit, the Recal TA Centermade up of specialized professionals dedicated to the prevention and treatment of eating disorders, a problem that is increasingly beginning to manifest at younger ages. His project has grown a lot, when he started he was dedicated to go with a van through the streets of Pozuelo picking up addicts to offer them foodand at that time no one imagined that the person before them was the son of the Archdukes Ferdinand and Helen of Austria.
In conversation with ABC, Maximiliano wanted to comment on this point, and he is clear that what one has or where one comes from has nothing to do with carrying out the desire to help: “well, I think that many people, regardless of their position, they contribute in areas where they feel they can make a difference. In my case, the field of addiction has been a natural choice because I have experienced it very closely. That personal experience has given me valuable tools and a deep understanding of what it means to face this disease. I feel that I can contribute something significant by helping those who have not yet found the way out of this situation. It is a commitment that is born from both empathy and the desire to make a real difference in the lives of others,” he says.
And his program has been improving and updating for years, so it is something he fully trusts: “our recovery program is differentiated by its comprehensive, personalized approach based on scientific evidence. At Clínica Recal we not only treat addiction as a disease, but we also address the underlying causes and the emotional, psychological and social factors that accompany it. We have a multidisciplinary team of highly trained specialists who work together to design a treatment plan adapted to the needs of each patient,” he explains. And in addition to that they have a support service for family members, since their role in the life of an addict is not easy either, “we consider support for families to be essential. We know that addiction not only affects the individual, but also those closest to them. Therefore, we offer workshops, group therapies and counseling sessions for family members, helping them understand the recovery process and become a key pillar on the path to healing. Our goal is not only to treat the disease, but also to rebuild relationships and strengthen the support system that surrounds the patient,” he states emphatically.
It is undoubtedly an ambitious project, and even more so now when it opens the field to the treatment of an addiction that has nothing to do with this one. The aristocrat is clear about the reasons why they have decided to expand their work: “you are driven by the alarming statistics that indicate a 30% increase in the incidence of this disease since the pandemic. These figures are not only worrying, but also reflect an urgent need for action to support affected people and their families. Furthermore, on a personal level, I was deeply shocked to discover that Eating Disorders are the mental illness that causes the highest number of suicides. This data is not only heartbreaking, but also shows the seriousness of the problem and the lack of adequate resources to address it. These factors, along with our commitment to making a difference in the lives of those who suffer from this disease, are the driving force that leads us to continue advancing and develop initiatives such as RECAL TA, which seeks to provide comprehensive and specialized support,” he points out.
Without a doubt, what he has achieved twenty-three years after starting is much, perhaps much more than he could have even dreamed of then, and perhaps that is why now his expectations and goals are not very ambitious, because he only wants to continue: “the main The goal of our foundation is to reach as many people as possible with addictions who need and are willing to receive help. In our clinic we have the Minnesota Program, which I consider the most effective method worldwide to treat addiction. This program offers those who follow it the real possibility of recovering and returning to a normal, full and productive life. “Our goal is to continue expanding our reach so that more people can benefit from this approach and find their path to recovery.”
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