Reflections on the Summer

 

Reflecting on the summer is tricky, as with any piece of reflection, emotion is bound up with experience: this makes it hard to be objective. Particularly when I am back in the UK, grey skies all round and news from Charlottesville filling my social media. Spain feels like a lifetime ago, and one with perpetual blue skies and opportunities. In an attempt to keep on track, I would divide my experience in Madrid into four themes: educational, cultural, experiential, and expansive.

Educational:

• The main approach I used to conduct research in Madrid was interviewing. I had limited experience of conducting interviews in New York, which I built on in Madrid. I found them and continue to find them difficult – it seems regardless of preparation, they can tunnel down rabbit holes or leave gaps. Made doubly difficult when conducting the interview in Spanish which is not my first language –  the ability to react, interject and probe made all that bit harder. After reviewing the notes or recording, I often find that the interview did not cover everything I wanted. They improved during the course of the summer, and all the people I interviewed were happy to receive follow-up questions after the event. I view interviewing now much more as a skill, one to be honed and practiced, not one that can be picked up and executed off-hand.
• Another research approach was observation. Something which should come so easily and naturally, but that weirdly felt like the most unnatural aspect of my research. Visiting occupation spaces I could take in so much: the size, space, light, wall coverings, purpose or emptiness of the rooms, how many people were there, and what they were doing. However, how or when to take notes or photos when engaged in an activity or conversation is much harder. Delineating what is and what is not useful when observing in real time is a skill, and one like interviewing which comes with practice.

Cultural:

Madrileños’ way of life is one of the aspects which I enjoyed most about this summer: I love the conviviality of a life spent informally, in social settings (mostly outside) and in groups. These modes affected not only the weekends but all my research, meaning that it was often difficult to separate what was work from leisure.

• Informality is the modus operandi in Madrid. I recognise that most of the people I was interviewing or engaging with were socially progressive in their political viewpoints. However, I got a sense from observing people in the streets, or in professional capacities, that this informality was not just with the people involved in occupations. It is even embedded in the language: the disregard of the formal ‘you’, a form that in South America is used regularly with strangers and to show deference.
• Face to face meetings are enjoyed. This may sound like a small thing, but people want to meet you in person and it makes a difference to your research. In New York I conducted interviews for a course last Spring – people were more than happy to interview over the phone (and some insisted on this) as it saved time. In Madrid, people will offer face to face meetings first, resorting to phone communication as second. Meetings were always held in social settings, which I appreciate was partly due to the informal nature of my research interests. However, I find it hard to imagine someone in New York suggesting to meet at 8pm on a Thursday night for a beer, when you ask them for a first meeting…

Experiential:

Reflecting on all the experiences I had over the summer, and the interviews which I conducted, it has been an exercise in itself to pin down what aspects of this experience can be distilled to a better understanding of occupation movements in Madrid. When asked what the aims of the organizations are I often came to a sticking point. Two distinct characteristics of El Patio, and similarly La Ingobernable, which exist almost in a form of tension are their decentralised politics and centralised decision making.

• Decentralised politics: supporting various causes in parallel, for example, anti-corruption, anti-Gentrification, anti-Touristification, alternative Gay Pride, support for refugees; is anti-hierarchical and participant-led. This extends to the way in which El Patio and La Ingobernable host events which are unpolitical, for example, salsa dancing or amateur theatre. These are participant led initiatives, responding to needs of people using the space – if participants go on to become involved in other, more overtly political activities, more the better.
• Centralised decision making: during an assembly topics are raised and decisions made by consensus. This is not only centralised spatially but it relies on key decision makers within the group to be present and actively involved in the assembly. Consensus is brought often by a discussion of the pros and cons – those who are central to the organization have voices which carry most sway.

Expansive:

During my time in Madrid I tried to make sense of urban trends I observed, read or heard about there into a global context. Two frames of reference I use most often are London and New York, as they are two cities I personally know best. They offer interesting comparisons to Madrid as all are cities central to their national interests, young, dynamic and rapidly changing. Madrid appears to me to be about 10 years behind London, and even more behind New York in terms of gentrification. However, the speed of change seems to be affecting Madrid even more drastically – possibly due to the dual pull of touristification in the city, or possibly it appears more drastic because Madrid has been up until recently a city where there is not a huge disparity between rich and poor. My post about touristification and Airbnb looked at a small area in the city centre. When comparing touristification in Madrid with London and New York I am left with some nagging questions – why does it seem more acute in Madrid? Is it size vs. no of tourists? Is there something spatial to do with the organisation of the city centre which allows for tourists to be absorbed easier in London or New York? Whatever the reasons, Madrid is appears set on a course to become as swamped with tourists as Barcelona. What place will social organizations have in the coming fight for greater regulation of the tourist industry in Madrid? Watch this space.

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The next step for me is to write up my thesis research, based on a number of organisations in Madrid who use collective decision making and design to shape the city. Madrid is changing rapidly and the questions of how the city can retain its identity, remain livable for its inhabitants, and respond to global pressures are becoming more and more urgent.

Photo taken in Embajadores, Madrid, August 2017