Plaza de la Trinidad, Granada, Spain; by othermore (other) @ flickr, click for original

One day in early November, I passed through the Plaza just before nightfall and was shocked by the noise. Thousands of small birds had taken up roosts in the top branches of the dense tree cover in the plaza, and it seemed as if all of them were squawking and chirping at once. They all seemed to be of the same species, little brown ones of some sort (I’m no expert), since they all sang the same song. A few stray loners of other species, well outside the central area, added their own unique sounds to the amazing racket.

I was quite impressed. The square is fairly busy during the day, with both vehicle traffic and plenty of people talking outside the bars and cafés and in the plaza park itself. But this was something else. The noise these birds made, as they presumably bedded themselves down for the night, was tremendous! You could hear them from several blocks away, and in the plaza itself you’d have to shout to make yourself heard over the noise.

I was struck by what a nice little counterpoint the whole scene was. Here, in the core of a dense and busy city, these thousands of birds would congregate each day. Who knows what they sing and chirp and squawk about. Maybe they’re just marking out their territory and warding off outsiders, maybe it’s a kind of community-reinforcement behavior, or maybe they cry out in solidarity with their brethren imprisoned in the cages of the exotic bird shop near where I took up residence. No matter. Here they were, every day just before dusk, making a joyous din that echoed off the stone walls of the surrounding buildings. The only negative point was the huge amount of droppings they produced; walking through the park during those hours is a calculated risk to anyone’s hair and clothing.

When I was in the area, at the right time, I would sometimes drop in just to hear all the birds singing their mighty song.

And then, at the beginning of December, a city maintenance crew came along one day and cut down all the smaller tree branches and carted them away. And the Plaza de la Trinidad now lies silent, until late spring.

According to Granada Indymedia and other things I’ve seen, a local “coexistence” ordinance for Granada entered into force on 10 November which prohibits on the city’s streets, well, basically everything not approved by the authorities. From my perhaps defective reading of the commentary I’ve seen in Spanish, “coexistence” is indeed the correct answer, if the question is, “How shall we, the city’s ruling class, suffer these filthy beggars?”

Among the acts banned are:

Prohibido todo - Everything banned

• All forms of prostitution (via legal constructions which, I hear second-hand, are worded so generally that the police could arrest attractively-clad women based on the types of glances they cast at men)
• Begging at public transport locations, “institutional attention” centers and private property (read: damn near anywhere), with the goal of forcing beggars into the welfare system
• Acrobatics and games of skill involving bicycles, skates, skateboards or balloons, outside ares designated for such
• All “public acts” or protests done without permission, which might in any way block traffic or create a public security hazard
• The purchase or acquisition in public spaces of food, drinks or other products from unpermitted walking vendors
• Allowing dust to fall on the street as a result of cleaning clothes or carpets on balconies or terraces
• Allowing water to fall on the street due to watering plants located outside a building
• Spitting or meeting other bodily needs in public spaces
• Performing as a street musician, especially if collecting money
• Handling or selecting things deposited in city trash bins (which, by the way, you’re not allowed to put your rubbish into except between 8pm and 11pm)
• Washing, fixing or carrying out maintenance work on vehicles in public spaces
• Placing pamphlets or leaflets on vehicles or movable property

Nope, no institutionalized privilege here.

The law provides for the immediate seizure of any instruments, object, money or other “fruits or products obtained via the violating activity”, subject to being passed into evidence in a court proceeding or being forfeited.

A leaflet distributed at the protest says: “They are converting the streets into a place reserved for going to work or to shop”, and, “With the excuse of ‘promoting coexistence’, they would try to rob us of one of the last remnants of freedom left to us: the streets.”

Policía Local - hired thugs

All told, there were maybe 400 people in attendance at Plaza del Carmen. My friend, from a smaller city in northern France, remarked that such an event there might have drawn 10,000 people without being a big surprise.

Policía - Se puede obedecer

The protest was largely street theater. A guy with a seriously-modified, six-foot-tall bicycle came riding around with a sign attached saying how what he was doing was illegal. A couple of girls invited the crowd to jump rope in the square. Another pair carried a clothesline strung between two broomsticks, festooned with underpants. Juggling occurred. Balls were thrown around, as were balloons. A guy cheaply costumed as a police officer (complete with cardboard riot shield, helmet face mask, inner-tube baton and a sign on his back reading “You may circulate and obey”) made a show of beating up some giggling kids.

Maybe 20 local police were there, and made a show of putting their riot helmets on as the protesters made a show of rushing the entrance to city hall. Not a whole lot really happened, though, since none among the protesters seemed to have had the foresight to bring pitchforks or rifles along.

Oh well.

I stayed at two different hostels. The first, Posada de Colón, was rudimentary. Everything in order, but a very crowded room and a less than comfortable bed. Decent location in an area with plenty of pubs and restaurants, though, and €16 a night isn’t bad for 10-beds-to-a-room dormitory accommodations.

The second hostel, Oasis, was wonderful. A big old villa at the lower end of the Albaicín district, tucked on a little side street next to what I think was a mosque or Islamic cultural center. Bigger rooms, comfier beds, a bar open from 6 to midnight with a very affable Polish bartender, nice patio seating outside, big roof terrace with great views. €18/night the first two days, €15/night the last day, when I moved into a cheaper room with more beds. The only downer was the internet service. I gave the guys at the desk some tips on positioning their wifi access point a bit better to provide more reliable coverage.

Albaicín street scene

I did a lot of walking around the city, checking out different districts, both in the course of looking at rooms for rent and just to find out which areas I might like to live in. Albaicín is pretty cool for its winding streets and ragtag organic jumble of buildings, but having to hike up a hillside to get home at any given time didn’t seem too inviting. El Centro, the core of the city, is wonderful. Perhaps the most organic city layout I’ve ever seen — nothing as jumbled and random like it exists in the US, except perhaps for Boston. Tons of great eateries available, a number of lovely small parks, and teeming with street life.

Zaidín, south of the center, seemed okay, as did the small intervening district. Didn’t get much of a chance to explore it, though, since I was there on a Sunday afternoon and pretty much everything was shuttered for the day. Certainly a quieter district than the center, even though it’s more heavily populated. Realejo looked like a nice place to live, but I wasn’t finding anything available there in my price range. I checked out one place in Cartuja, far out from the center 40 minutes on foot. At only €100/month for modest room in a 3-bedroom apartment, the price was right, but the distance from everything was just too great, and the neighborhood — made up of a number of massive 10-story apartment buildings — didn’t strike me as at all appealing.

I ended up taking a room in Barrio Los Pajaritos. Not exactly in the center, but only 20 minutes’ walk away. A fully modern building on a minor side street, nicely appointed and maintained 4-bedroom apartment, and only 5 minutes from a supermarket, a couple of pubs and restaurants and a large number of other retail establishments. My three new housemates — early-to-mid-twenties guys, all — seem like an affable bunch. €180/month plus utilities for a fairly spacious room with double bed, lots of closet space and a bookshelf. I bought a desk from the guy who was moving out, but he wouldn’t part with the very comfy-looking leather office chair he had, so I’ll have to sort that out pretty soon.

The pace of life in Spain will take some getting used to. A lot of businesses close for siesta, as much as three hours in the afternoon. Crowds up people turn out on the streets at times I wouldn’t expect, having lived with the distinctly different rhythms of Bratislava for the past five years.

Mata Nazis y politicos - Kill Nazis and politicians

There’s a huge amount of anarchist graffiti in Granada. Some of it’s pure wildcat stuff like “MATⒶ NAZIS Y POLITICOS” (“KILL NAZIS AND POLITICIANS”), while the rest is more in line with traditional syndicalist rabble-rousing. There’s also a great many street posters from groups affiliated with CNT-AIT (Confederación Nacional del Trabajo – Asociación Internacional de los Trabajadores, National Confederation of Labor – International Workers’ Association), which included my favorite lines: Tu vota no es tu voz, es su carroña. Si quieren comer, que trabajen, no votes, haz algo; organízate y lucha! (“Your vote is not your voice, it is their carrion. If they want to eat, let them work. Don’t vote, do something; organize and fight!”). A great many of the posters are in solidarity with Amadeu Casellas, Spain’s modern “Robin Hood”, who took part in bank robberies to fund labor struggles which landed him in prison for the past couple of decades. A demonstration supporting him was planned for yesterday at the regional parliament (I think), but I didn’t have time to check that out.

If any readers have friends or contacts in the area, I’d love to hear from you — assuming you’d want to introduce me to your friends and contacts, of course.

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