In this week's Camino a Ítaca I walk the streets of my neighborhood and envision what will become of these barrios when tourism takes over completely. Click over to read the original version in Spanish in el HOY or read the English translation below. (PDF abajo)
My neighbor is my street’s living memory. She was born in her narrow, three-story house. She then raised her own family in those three small rooms, each stacked upon each other and still climbs those flights of stairs every day. In the eighty-five years she has lived opposite the Almohad wall in Caceres, she has seen more profound change than most of us will ever see in our entire lives.
It's a story that will
resound with many who have lived their lives in the historical centers of
cities and towns across Extremadura.
She vividly remembers the mules
that climbed the cobblestone streets until the late sixties. Beasts of burden
that carried water and goods up to the homes that could afford the service,
that is until running water finally reached the homes of those who couldn’t.
She fondly recalls the
sounds of the many children who used to live in the neighborhood. Their cries
filled the now quiet, narrow streets as they bounced balls off the crumbling
wall, trying not to stain the washing as it hung to dry. As a young girl she recalls
climbing the trees that used to grow in the now-desolate, gated parking lot
that the Diputacion zealously maintains for its own uses. She remembers a
Caceres that was well-worn but warmed by the life that came from the families
that lived within those walls.
Families that are now a
species threatened by extinction.
In the most recent
offensive by the administration against residents living in the historic centers
of the region, the town hall of Caceres has unilaterally proposed to eliminate
fifty percent of the parking spaces available to residents in the UNESCO core. A
proposal which completely ignored the suggestions of the neighborhood
association and offered no alternatives. One which would punish those whose
homes are too humble for garages.
Why the sudden need?
Simple. Instagram. These modern-day
mules spoil the medieval fantasy world that the administration believes that tourists
come to see. This fiction is ruined by residents going about their day to day
lives, especially if they aren’t dressed up as knights. It’s the instrumental
use of our cultural heritage for short term gain.
Because what happens if
they indeed succeed and the residents are forced to flee?
Would there be enough
tourists to support an old town full of luxury shops like in Marbella. Would
there be enough foot traffic to justify converting all these homes into
souvenir shops like in Toledo? Would the phantasmagorical high-speed train
bring enough visitors to fill an old town full of tourist apartments?
Or would the homes crumble
away and collapse like the abandoned XII century Almohad tower that slowly
disintegrates in the Adarve del Cristo?
The fact that families
have not completely abandoned the old town in Caceres is one of the factors
that makes it distinct from the many other beautiful old towns and cities
across Spain. A forward-thinking administration should be looking at ways to
encourage people to stay and even move to the old town, giving life to the ochre
stones. If it means a few spoiled pictures, well it’s not as bad as stepping in
what the mules left behind.
