Sunday, October 13, 2024, 11:57 p.m.
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A border can be a street. On one side, a stage. To the other, a very different one. It happens on Doctor Castroviejo Street. On its left side, on the side closest to Ribera del Beiro, pedestrian paths, low sidewalks, well-kept paving stones. In the part closest to the Virgen de las Nieves, blue zone, high sidewalks, curved cobblestones. It is the reality of Doctores-Plaza de Toros, a neighborhood divided in two.
For some years now, the majority feeling among residents is that the neighborhood, which was known as one of the most interesting places in the expansive Granada of the 60s and 70s, is in the doldrums. The aging of the residents and the lack of maintenance, added to the hospital changes, has left a patina far removed from that flourishing Doctores, with one of the highest concentrations of businesses in the entire city.
Years ago, the neighborhood’s neighborhood association, then chaired by Manuel Morcillo, demanded that the streets be renovated. This is how a plan for pedestrianization and cleaning of the main streets of the neighborhood was originated, which was left in half. Only part of Doctor Fidel Fernández, Doctor Enrique Hernández and Doctor Fleming were completed. In these sections, the sidewalks are level with the road to allow more comfortable pedestrian mobility for the residents, who are mostly elderly. «For us it is better, yes. With the walker it’s easier,” says Luis, who lives in Doctor Fleming. He, like other neighbors consulted by this newspaper who gather in the tree-lined square of Doctor López Neyra, agree on the need to change the neighborhood.
The majority feeling among the neighbors is that the neighborhood, which was known as one of the most interesting places in the expansive Granada of the 60s and 70s, is in decline.
«The streets have been left in half, yes. There is a need for more cleaning, more security. These trees should be bare and you see them, with the branches grown here,” says Natalio. Next to him, Manuel, who chats animatedly while sitting in his walker. “For those of us who have problems walking, of course a low-floor street is more comfortable, without the raised sidewalk, yes,” he confirms.
For the three of them, however, Doctores’ problems are not limited to the abandonment of old improvement projects designed for the neighborhood. At the same time there are others, such as cleanliness or insecurity. «If you come to the square at another time, you can see it yourself. There are people here who cause problems, others who come to drink and leave the bottles in the way. It’s a shame,” they say. A neighbor also points out the squatters. «On this street alone (referring to Doctor Castroviejo) there have been two occupations this summer. Yes, we have seen police officers here, but the feeling of insecurity is there,” he says.
The sum of problems is leaving the feeling that the neighborhood, in some way, is becoming distorted, that it is no longer what it was. “This is a bit decadent now and it’s a shame,” Juana confesses as she leaves a store on Doctor Castroviejo Street. She remembers the times when Doctor López Neyra was the small square where taxis from the towns stopped and streams of strangers got off to buy in the businesses in the area. Now groups of older people, valets and, according to the neighbors themselves, people with bad lives are fighting over it. In Doctor Castroviejo the complaint also exists. «Before, people used to go down this street. They were doctors who parked in this area, those who came to the hospitals for consultations… Now no one comes down.
There is a place opposite that closed a year ago because the owner had hurt herself and, although it was going to open before this summer, it is still closed. There are more businesses that have closed. I have problems myself. Only one woman has entered so far this morning. “You can’t do it like that,” acknowledges a neighborhood merchant.
Génesis, a clerk in one of the stores in the area, agrees that the situation has changed significantly in recent years. She, like others, believe that it is not only a problem of lack of maintenance, but also affects the construction of an important supermarket and a parking area in Mondragones. “It has shifted the focus to that part,” he says. «It is true that when it is built, people leave their cars there and buy in the closest part. He doesn’t go this far. There are, in fact, stores that were on this same street and have gone to the Ribera del Beiro for this reason. Of course, all that is making it look decadent, with so many empty premises, unrepaired, painted streets, neglected sidewalks,” he laments.
“Times change”
The vision of Paco Lafuente, the last of the shoemakers in the neighborhood who resists, is different. He believes that simply “times change.” «I have been here for more than 35 years. I arrived when I was 18 and I’m 53, so imagine. This was a neighborhood of young people with children and students. Now it is a neighborhood of very old people and students. That is transforming him. Many blocks, since the pandemic, are installing elevators, which did not have them before. The new supermarket and the gym have given life, although only to the closest area,” he says.
«If cars see parking, they stop and buy. If not, it’s much more difficult.”
In his opinion, more than the general decadent situation, the main problem is the Internet. “He is the one who is doing harm,” he acknowledges. «Before there were five or six clothing stores in the neighborhood. The one that has specialized in a specific field has endured and I am very happy about that success. The one that hasn’t had to close. There were five of us shoemakers. “Only I am left.”
Both he and Génesis and other merchants consulted agree in asking for more blue zone. «If cars see parking, they stop and buy. If not, it is much more difficult,” says one of them. «Here older people had garages, they took their cars out onto the street and rented the space. I see the blue zone well. It can cause more turnover. Although I would do something so that you could leave the car not just for two hours, but for three or four,” says Lafuente.
Among the residents and merchants, for the most part, there is some unease. However, everyone insists that they are not going to stop demanding improvements for Doctors. Morcillo, the former neighborhood president, is the most forceful despite his 88 years. He refers to them with surprising speed. «The neighborhood has been disconnected from the city. You have to reconnect it. Access through the hospital to the Caleta area must be recovered. We cannot continue maintaining the dirt that exists now. “We also need lower sidewalks,” lists this neighbor, who assures that they will not stop complaining, asking for things for the neighborhood. “Until the body can take it,” he insists. On both sides of the border of Doctor Castroviejo, the desire is unanimous. Nobody wants a neighborhood divided in two.
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