Alejandro takes the wheelbarrow full of ash to fertilize the garden, which soon plants the first lettuces. “I can eat those for March now”says proud. He has the morning well spent. First thing in the morning, he took the tractor and went to the outskirts of the town to get firewood.
He just left it parked in a huge garage where he has what looks like one of those vintage white Vitaras, though he also has a Ford Atlanta says.
A morning of work like any other in any town. Or not. Because Alexander is 93 years old. “I’m doing 94 now at the beginning of March”, he says, staring at his interlocutor looking for a reaction.
– Do not tell me? This phenomenon. And does he manage to drive well?
– Well, recently my license was renewed. For five more years! On the condition that you do not do more than 50 kilometers, I can’t go beyond Cantalejo-, he says with a mischievous sparkle in his eyes, knowing that it is something exceptional.
Alejandro, a 93-year-old retiree, poses next to his tractor in Fuente Olmo de Fuentidueña. / ALBA VIGARAY
And it is that Fuente el Olmo de Fuentidueña, whose origin dates back to the 12th century and is surrounded by leafy forests of elms and pines, it has something of Macondo.
To begin with, there are times of the year that the town, located to the north of Segovia, multiply its population by 10.
According to the INE, it has 135 registered inhabitants, almost half of them immigrants (67), although now in winter no more than 50 people will live in total. In October, however, they reach 500 neighbors. Or more.Temporary workers of different nationalities, the majority of Romanian origin, come to the town to pick the red fruit in the orchards that Planasa has on the outskirts.
The temporary workers live in the company’s barracks, but many have houses rented by Planasa in the locality. They charge five euros net per hour, more or less, and food and accommodation are covered.
Most of the registered immigrants, 62, are also Romanian. There are also two Poles, a Ukrainian, a Moroccan and a Colombian. There is not such a high percentage of immigrants in all of Castilla.
Fuente Olmo is also exceptional because in such a small municipality, in the middle of emptied Spain, it is not usual to see two bars open, The Parade and The Inn, and that both businesses are run by Romanians.
Teodor, Romanian, runs one of the two bars in the town with his wife. / ALBA VIGARAY
Nor does it mean that the mayor, José Núñez, despite the fact that the average age of the residents here for life is very high, intends to build a paddle tennis court. “The City Council has money, the company has done a lot for the people.” In fact, a sign on the cork at the entrance to the Consistory informs in very large letters of the annual budget for 2020: 416,630 euros.
The mayor’s party, the PP, has won the regional elections again, although it has lost 18 points, which have gone to Vox, which has skyrocketed. Between both formations, they have still won 77% of the votes: 30 votes out of 38 total. In the last regional elections, between Vox and PP they added 69% of the votes.
“It is that this town has always been very right-wing. Notice that we have the eaglet in the City Hall; there has been some Bolshevik who has sent photos over there and threatens to remove it. Let whoever has made the Historical Memory Law come and remove it if they want,” says the mayor, a retiree who started in politics in an independent party and whose achievements include having paved the entire town.
– And how is the coexistence?
– Well, coexistence is good, but the donkey on the edge… Here there has been migration on a whim, there was no need.
David Pérez is also retired and we caught him riding his bike on his way to feed the chickens. He is about to cross the bridge of the round stream, probably of Roman origin and is one of the jewels of the town.
“Well, no one came here in the campaign to say anything,” he answers when asked about the 13-F elections, of which he prefers to say who he voted for.
– We have come because almost 80% voted for the right.
– Yeah…- he answers making a face- I think that the fact that outsiders cannot vote this time has been noticed.
“Those of us who are registered can only vote in the municipal ones,” explains Teodor, who along with his wife, María, also Romanian, runs the La Posada bar, opposite the Church, where groceries are also sold.
“People up to their noses from all political parties, they do it just for themselves. They kill the self-employed with taxes,” he reasons about the rise of vox. “I would still have voted for them, for voting for someone, not for anything else; those of us who already know us sink,” explains Teodor as he helps his wife to put the purchase in the establishment.
According to him, there are no more immigrants in the town “because the mayor doesn’t want to.” “It doesn’t make it easy for the children to stay in the town. If I put someone to do activities in the afternoon after school with them until their parents get off work, more people would have stayed and there would be more people trading in the town. Many have gone to Cuéllar “, she releases.
On the shelves of the bar there is everything from sausages in a fridge, to large bottles of soft drinks, sugar, nuts or vegetables. In the bulletin board there is a sign-up sheet for slaughter day, which is at the end of the week. The price is 25 euros for non-members, which gives the right to lunch and dinner.
He is not very happy with Mayor Teodor, who came to the town to work on construction in 2004, a year before the large Romanian diaspora arrived to work in the fields. “He only thinks about his own thing, because of him the price of renting houses has risen,” says the hotelier, who protests because the other bar can put a beach bar at parties in the square “and we can’t”.
A resident of Fuente Olmo de Fuentidueña rides his bicycle over the town’s Roman bridge. / ALBA VIGARAY
“Here many have already tired of the PP”, explains Javier, from Madrid who came to live in the town three years ago and works as a bus driver. “Here all the immigrants work, but there are many people who are tired of not working and they give them help,” he says at the door of the house. “Everyone here gets along well,” he says.
Some are clear that the rise of the right is due to support for the rural environment. “Let’s see if the PP kills the wolves, which the left does not want and they are doing a lot of damage to livestock, just like the wild boars,” says Alejandro, who crosses his path with the wheelbarrow with Julia, also retired, who is sweeping the door of his house. We asked him about the elections: “I, son, don’t know why Vox has risen.”
“Here we always voted for the right”, confirms Alejandro, who assures that “the left is always looking to harm the right”. Both denounce that they are being cut in primary health care. “It’s just that the doctor only comes for two days, before it was three, and The pharmacist no longer comes,” explains Julia in a complaint also made by the mayor.
Both retirees ratify that coexistence is good with the Romanians. “They don’t mess with anyone. At least the bars are open with them, and they bring joy to the people,” assures Alejandrowho affirms that there were also several Moroccan families living in houses in the town, but “they have already left.”
“These Romanians have good cars, look, that’s one of theirs,” Alejandro blurts out, pointing to a black BMW.
At the La parada bar, there is only the person in charge, Ángela, from Romania. She doesn’t want to talk about politics-“everyone is the same”-, but she also assures that they all get along: “She has been a part of the people for a long time.”