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24-JUL-2011

Mixed feelings - by endika

This is the highest point in our neighbourhood, and one of the highest in Barcelona. There it was a flak battery in the Spanish Civil War. Above it, they built a conjunct of shanty houses that lasted for more than fifty years, finally they were demolished. After that, it was abandoned for years, and became a place mainly visited by the neighbours.
Now, authorities arranged all the area, put fences and explanatory panels... Appropriate, clean, but I have the feel that they are trying to domesticate a part of our history, this of poor people that struggled for decades to have a life.

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Olympus DSLR Challenge03-Aug-2011 01:24
It is funny to go and see all the places I lived in my "artist"/student days. Lots of the areas have been bulldozed and new places put up. It is a bit interesting, if only for the kids, to go back and see where their parents lived.

brent
Brad 02-Aug-2011 23:07
yep, Frank, all the early US sites on the east coast,, make it look very inviting to have lived back then,, until you think,, no flushing toilets,,limited bathing,,,,..I'll stick with the 21st century,,
Guest 25-Jul-2011 16:47
With renovations, it becomes almost sanitized. When I visited some slave plantations, I had
thoughts that it "wasn't that bad".
FrankNG
Brad 24-Jul-2011 18:47
yes, it would have a different feel to it without the signage. I assume there are many places in Europe, especially in tourist areas with similar predicaments.