Residents and merchants of Sant Antoni are asking the government of mayoress Ada Colau to move the traditional Sunday exchange of trading cards to the neighborhood round. Unexpectedly, the World Cup revitalized this analogical custom among creatures. So much so that lately the crowds are triggering a few inconveniences in the area, especially between Comte d’Urgell and Tamarit streets.
A woman in a wheelchair every Sunday has trouble leaving the house, for example. And a few shops regret that the crowds make their work more difficult. At the Tawhid fruit shop they say that the crowd hides them so much that no one goes in, and at the Unic flower shop, that they can’t work in such conditions, that months ago they gave up opening what was always the best day of the week, that on top of this Sunday is Sant Jordi, and the following, Mother’s Day, its most important days of the year, and that…
In addition, they add, with a move of a few meters, we would be closer to the armistice, we would breathe life into the roundabout, we would appease the deep, bloody and bitter neighborhood conflict that the definitive transformation of this central road after years of provisionality triggered between supporters of their pacification and those who prefer the return of the buses.
“We were never in favor of pacification, and we are also not convinced by the municipal proposal that barely allows the buses to get off – says Lidia Núñez, from the trade association Som Sant Antoni -, but if the City Council pacifies a road has to give it life. The exchange of trading cards would have room for envelopes in the round, the creatures and their parents would be more comfortable there, and also many businesses. We would give people reasons to use the new round.”
Pep Sala, from the association of residents of the neighborhood, an entity closer to pacification than that of the merchants – with nuances, the conflict in the Ronda de Sant Antoni is very complex – does not look down on the initiative. “It’s just that it’s next door… and if we solve problems and in passing come up with new uses for the round…”. “Let’s talk about children, it’s not serious – says Fuensanta GarcÃa, from the Sunday booksellers, from Sant Antoni Comerç, the other association of shopkeepers in the neighborhood – but it’s true that lately you’ve been getting little hats all over the place, and they sit on the ground in front of the stops to show each other the cards… If they take them to the round we think it’s fine. I don’t think anyone will feel harmed.”
The administrations do not like the unexpected during election periods. In addition, the Council anticipates that the works for the definitive urbanization of the roundabout will be put out to tender this summer, so the idea of ​​moving the trading cards there does not seem practical. This Sunday they will send a couple of civic agents so that the florists can work in conditions, although the florists do not see it clearly… “It is a fun and popular activity – adds the City Council -, with an audience children’s, with decades of tradition. Every change requires sensitivity and coordination with all entities”.
