Life in slums
This documentary focuses on the testimony of people who spent half their lives in slums. Shantytowns like Somorrostro (on the beach between Barceloneta and Poble Nou), Can Valero (round Monjuïc) and Canons del Carmel sprang up in Barcelona between the 1940s and 80s. Thousand of families lived in these shantytowns. The last of them was flattened shortly before the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona.
A tide of immigrants swept in to Catalonia's cities between 1940 and the late 60s from the surrounding country and Spain. There was no public housing and shantytowns mushroomed overnight, built with whatever the slum dwellers had in hand. They spread along the coastline, crept up the hills and filled empty plots of land. The slumdwellers worked in the city but had to live on the outskirts in utter squalor. For years they endured discrimination and repression, living in daily fear that their shacks would be torn down by authorities.
Most slums had no running water, no light, no sanitation. In the beginning, these districts also had no schools, clinics or public services. The shanty-dwellers had to fight hard to improve their harsh living conditions. It took years before they were rehoused on new estates. These buildings were often hastily thrown up in godforsaken spots such as Sant Cosme (El Prat) or Trinitat. Thousands lived in these wreched conditions for over three decades until the authorities began to take the residents' plight seriously.
Barcelona is swift to forget its shantytowns and its trouble past. Urban development and property speculation have wiped out the traces of many settlements. But they still live on in the memories of the slum dwellers, who want to see official commemoration of this episode in the city's history. They want streets or beaches to bear the name and memory of places like Somorrostro, Can Valero and camp de la Bota. To understand today's city, the "other" story must also be told.
Milions of people around the world live in appalling slums. Housing has once again become a problem for many people in Catalonia. Soaring property prices have put decent housing beyond the reach of newcomers. That is why it is worth remembering that not too long ago, in Barcelona alone, around 100,000 people eked out much of their lives in shantytowns.
A tide of immigrants swept in to Catalonia's cities between 1940 and the late 60s from the surrounding country and Spain. There was no public housing and shantytowns mushroomed overnight, built with whatever the slum dwellers had in hand. They spread along the coastline, crept up the hills and filled empty plots of land. The slumdwellers worked in the city but had to live on the outskirts in utter squalor. For years they endured discrimination and repression, living in daily fear that their shacks would be torn down by authorities.
Most slums had no running water, no light, no sanitation. In the beginning, these districts also had no schools, clinics or public services. The shanty-dwellers had to fight hard to improve their harsh living conditions. It took years before they were rehoused on new estates. These buildings were often hastily thrown up in godforsaken spots such as Sant Cosme (El Prat) or Trinitat. Thousands lived in these wreched conditions for over three decades until the authorities began to take the residents' plight seriously.
Barcelona is swift to forget its shantytowns and its trouble past. Urban development and property speculation have wiped out the traces of many settlements. But they still live on in the memories of the slum dwellers, who want to see official commemoration of this episode in the city's history. They want streets or beaches to bear the name and memory of places like Somorrostro, Can Valero and camp de la Bota. To understand today's city, the "other" story must also be told.
Milions of people around the world live in appalling slums. Housing has once again become a problem for many people in Catalonia. Soaring property prices have put decent housing beyond the reach of newcomers. That is why it is worth remembering that not too long ago, in Barcelona alone, around 100,000 people eked out much of their lives in shantytowns.
