The palaces of Arrecife (II): local businesses

April 23 2025 (15:46 WEST)

In a first installment of "the palaces of Arrecife" I explained what the palaces of the people meant for the sociologist Eric Klinenberg: social infrastructures where people can meet, live together and establish community ties. Unlike mere material or physical engineering infrastructures, these social infrastructures are linked to the common environments where people generate bonds and affections, and where we build a town. A public library, educational centers, squares, parks, sports clubs or neighborhood associations can be considered "palaces of the people."

This second installment will be dedicated to another type of palaces that our capital possesses and that have been and are vital for the people and families of Arrecife. I am talking about local businesses, also called proximity or country businesses.

I am not inventing anything if I say that local businesses are our own people, families, neighbors or acquaintances of all of us. They are a sign of our identity as a city.

Arrecife was built under the prism of fishing trade, as reflected in the recent Non-Legislative Proposition (PNL) that my fellow deputy Yoné Caraballo defended in the Parliament of the Canary Islands in order to institutionally recognize the fishing and canning culture of Lanzarote. A PNL that was rejected without any justification, turning its back on the history, culture and the women and men who built a vital industry for the survival of the conejera society.

Local Commerce contributes to bringing products and services of all kinds closer to the residents. These small businesses, in most cases with 1, 2 or 3 workers, maintain a human treatment with the client that goes beyond the simple cold, mechanical and fleeting commercial transaction. A local establishment where you can talk to the clerk, generate affective bonds or personal relationships, is not simply a business, it is a friendly space and recognized as part of your life and daily life.  

I still remember the shops in my neighborhood of Maneje, some survive with difficulty and others have closed due to the death of their owners or have had to be transferred. La Lonja de Mariana or Casa Suso where we bought bread, sweets and products of all kinds. Pino's haberdashery, Gregorio's supermarket, El Bajito bar, Juan Jaime's mechanical workshop, Amararico's, Juan Ramón's welder, Alfonso "the timplista" or Sagrario's hairdresser. All of these have in common being from the neighborhood, neighbors and families. We know each other by our names and trust is the norm. They give life, offer security and meeting points: "we meet at Casa Suso and go down."

Currently, the Local Commerce of Arrecife is dying. I don't want to be a catastrophist, but you only need to take a walk through the streets to see that more and more premises are hanging the sign "For Rent", "For Sale" or "For Transfer". Premises that were once full of life and dreams, are now empty infrastructures that, most likely, will swell the park of vacation homes thanks to the new regulations of the Government of the Canary Islands, the effect of tourist gentrification and real estate speculation and the inaction of the municipal government group.

What can we do to recover these palaces of the people? From Nueva Canarias-Bloque Canarista we have developed a Plan for the Protection and Care of Local Commerce of Arrecife called "100% Arrecife", taking into account the international context of tariff trade war that is expected to raise the products and services of large global chains installed in the Canary Islands. Today we need more local commerce.

Faced with the proliferation of international commercial chains that dehumanize our neighborhoods and environments, we advocate for local commerce, face-to-face, of human quality. For us it is a mistake to promote large closed shopping centers in the center of a small municipality like Arrecife with a per capita income of the lowest in Spain and with serious mobility deficiencies. We do not doubt the benefits of large leisure areas, but these cannot be at the expense of eliminating our local capital.

Open commercial areas such as Calle Real have closed due to the aggressive competition of large chains and the gentrification of the downtown area that displaces residents to other points of the capital and leaves housing for tourist rental. There are practically no people from Arrecife but foreigners looking for international brands and chains. A death blow to local commerce.

I am not going to develop the plan that we have proposed, since I would extend too much and it is not the object of this article. You can consult it on the social networks of Nueva Canarias-Bloque Canarista or on my own, and suggest changes and proposals.

I would like to finish with a reflection. Faced with this changing, uncertain and gray world, what is next is our refuge. Returning to reconnect with our roots, with the community and with our people will make us as a society face the challenges that lie ahead more strongly. Local Commerce is security, our survival kit. It is people. We are all. Let's support each other.

 

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