Barcelona is my nest, my here and now, a now that lasts almost three years and that is highly desired, not a Bertín Osborne-style accident. If I’m leaving today it’s because I’m starting vacation and I need a reset in a real climate refuge and not fake, far from the ambient temperature that reigns in these days of July in the pan. For that and to see mine who are far away.
But, in a couple of weeks, I will be one of those who stay in Barcelona in August, because I feel as if this city is mine, which so often loves itself little and punishes itself. Decadent, degraded, provincial, far from the avant-garde, unlivable, uncivil, insecure, sold to tourism, dirty and without local shopssay the cursers devoured by nostalgia, that they are very tiresome.
Barcelona, imperfect and improvable like all living beings, has many pressing challenges to face. Influencing it is an obligation of journalism and responsible citizenship, but it is also an obligation to make visible the beats that lead it in the right direction.
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Pavlinka Doroshenko is a good example. Ukrainian, 39 years old and a decorator, she arrived almost a decade ago to meet another Ukrainian in person who lived in the capital Barcelona of Tinder. Doroshenko never left and in all these years he has worked in commercial window dressing. The Ukrainian has now launched into an undertaking and will run the Herboristeria del Rei, which was the oldest in Catalonia and that closed in 2021 due to discrepancies between the property and the then landlord. Now, the business reopens under the leadership of Doroshenko, preserving its historic activity after signing a ten-year lease, as Patricia Castán explains.
What will the cursers say about this good news, which shows that not all traditional commerce is resurrected as a temple of souvenirs and that the orderly immigration that Albert Sáez defends so well can be beneficial for Barcelona, my nest. Take care, be happy, we’ll read each other around the corner and stay loyal to EL PERIÓDICO.