“Do not go through that street, it’s a gypsy neighborhood”
It’s been almost twelve years since I moved from Ukraine to Malaga, Spain.
My family and I lived very close to the center of the city and there were two roads to get there, one down the main street and the other along the street that according to the people we had to avoid. Just the way I had to avoid was the one I always wanted to go.
People talked about Lagunillas Street and La Cruz Verde Street as dangerous places, where they sell drugs and there are problems. I think many warnings were because it is a gypsy neighborhood. It never seemed dangerous to me, it did not scare me. I was a 15-year-old blonde girl who passed by with all the security of the world behind me.
My school was close to the neighborhood, so many of the children there were my companions.
With time I realized that this road to the center of the city became my favorite. One of the main reasons, still supposedly dealing with a dangerous place, seemed to me a quieter place. Through these streets less people passed, less cars, the whole street was for me.
The myth that the gypsies were dangerous to me had completely vanished. They never hurt me. I keep taking the same road to go downtown.
Today Lagunillas street has changed a lot, it has improved in all aspects. Now people are not afraid of it, there are cultural spaces, hostels and tourist apartments.
I think many people have understood, that it really is a privileged place, it is the heart of the city. Two minutes from the birthplace of Pablo Picasso, four minutes from the Alcazaba and the Roman Theater and ten from the Cathedral of Malaga. And all that walking.
That’s why I want to share information about places that are less central, change the bad name for the good, get people to the positive part.
I am proud to see this street now as it is. And I can say I always believed in this place; although before I could not have explained the reason.
