On 21 April, the “I Jornada de concienciació verda i neteja veinal de la muntanya” was held, organised by the family associations of the “Salvem Montjuic” platform (AFA Escola Poble-sec, AMPA El Bosc, AMPA Tres Pins, AMPA Jacint Verdaguer). This initiative stems from the controversial “Pla d’Equipaments”, which was declared closed on 31 January 2018 without reaching an agreement between residents and the City Council. The aim was to plan which facilities are wanted and already exist in the neighbourhood, and what uses they should be given, but rather than gathering the needs of residents, organisations and associations to draw up a 10-year plan as the result of a collective process, the feeling was that it was more about justifying the City Council’s proposals. For this reason, a new working and monitoring group has been created, broader than the previous steering group. The most contentious area of the participatory process is the zone stretching from the Escola Bressol Nic to Carrer Margarit, and from Passeig de l’Exposició to the La Satalia Municipal Football Ground, where a facilities building is planned to house whatever the neighbourhood may need. Although it has an urban planning designation as a facilities site, a large majority of residents do not accept that this green area belonging to Montjuic has been reclassified. Without downplaying the needs at stake, residents propose other ways of addressing them without continuing to sacrifice green spaces or adding more concrete, and instead making use of empty buildings. Barcelona is a city with a high pollution index and a lack of “green areas” (Barcelona City Council calls “green areas” undeveloped zones with hard paving and no shade whatsoever, while the WHO considers them essential for physical and emotional wellbeing), and Montjuic is one of its most valuable green lungs, one that has gradually been losing ground to buildings of various kinds.
The site of this future building is used daily by many families on their way to school, by members of the Font Trobada community garden, or simply by residents who want to be in touch with nature. This is how “Ocupem-nos de Montjuic” came about, aiming to raise awareness, value and look after what we have. The area covered was extended to Avinguda Miramar and organised into 9 zones, each with a representative from the AMPAs and the corresponding recycling bags. Adults and children took part in every zone, collecting everything that does not belong in nature. After an hour and a half, almost 300 kg of waste had been gathered, which was sorted by recycling type and quantified, giving a final result of: 32 kg of glass, 70 kg of plastics, 10 kg of paper, 170 kg of non-recyclable waste and 4 kg of green-point waste. Once the waste count was finished, several workshops were held for all ages: a workshop painting stones with lime paint donated by the company Com-Cal, the creation of a small garden, Land Art with signs bearing optimistic messages, and a seed-bomb workshop. Once the workshops were over, the paths and trees were decorated together with the participants, leaving a trace of the enthusiasm and good energy that filled the whole day. It came to an end at 2 p.m. with a zero-waste picnic.
It was a real success!
