Graffiti reading “Yes, the fu**ing monkey gentrifies.” (Photo courtesy of the author.)

In the spring of 2023, I was sitting in a classroom in the Colegio Mayor Isabel De España during orientation week for my study abroad semester in Madrid. I listened to Professor of Sociology Jorge García Burgos talk about how the city is a place where people from different nationalities, ethnicities, languages, cultures and religions live together. Madrid is considered a multicultural city, but demographics are not equally distributed across the urban space. Multiculturalism is more visible in certain districts or areas, one of which is Lavapiés.

Known for its immigrant community, the neighborhood of Lavapiés is located in the administrative ward (barrio) of Embajadores, southwest of the popular La Latina neighborhood. Professor García Burgos explained that in 2018, an article in El País labeled Lavapiés as one of the “coolest neighborhoods in the world” based on its “bustling cultural life” and diverse immigrant population.

I was excited to learn more about this neighborhood and explore it myself. I come from a multicultural neighborhood in New York City, where my community is home to hundreds of immigrants. I was raised by immigrants myself, so I wondered if Lavapiés would remind me of home. However, the professor explained that there is a major problem occurring in Lavapiés: gentrification. This issue sparked my curiosity, and later that week when I was assigned to this neighborhood for a class presentation, I felt like it was meant to be.

The downside of tourism

The sounds of different languages such as French, Spanish, Arabic and Chinese rang in my ears as I gazed upon streets piled with fresh food. All around me there were fresh spices and herbs from cultural restaurants and stacks of fresh tropical fruits and vegetables that I had never seen before. A tour guide caught my attention as they spoke about the history of Lavapiés. I learned that recently there has been a rise of tourism in this neighborhood because of the new trend towards chic bars and diverse restaurants. Lavapiés has come to be considered a cool, Bohemian neighborhood full of culture and street art.

However, as illustrated by the image above, this tourism has had negative consequences for the local community. This mural is an example of the street art that can be found in Lavapiés, but it was covered by graffiti that spoke to the gentrification occurring there.

As I explored Lavapiés, I noticed that major organizations like BBVA bank and Ibis Hotels have established themselves directly beside the metro stop, and the neighborhood is littered with travel agencies. While walking, I also realized that many of the small businesses were shut down. However, there were newer stores around too, so I entered one that turned out to be a small bookshop.

I asked the bookkeeper if he knew about any more established book shops in the area. He said that the shop opened in 2021 and there were not many others, as they faced grave economic conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many small businesses were forced to shut down, and families had to move out of Lavapiés; the community’s economic uncertainty aggravated its gentrification.

After completing my presentation, I decided to take another trip to the neighborhood on my own time. I came across an indoor market called San Fernando. The walls and bulletin boards were completely filled with stickers and posters. Sounds of people talking and eating, food stands preparing their freshly made dishes from Latin America and other parts of Europe, and the clinks of drinks filled the market air. It felt like I was walking into another dimension filled with diverse cuisine and people. I was happy being around other people of color.

A jewelry stand caught my eye, and the workers were friendly with me. They told me they were Colombian and have always crafted their jewelry by hand. The jewelry maker even made me a little star pin out of the tools he had.

”Tourists Go Home - Tourism is ruining our neighborhoods” (Photo courtesy of the author)

Displacement - and signs of resistance

Conscious of my role as a tourist throughout this project, and humbled by their kindness, I wanted to make an effort to shop at small businesses in Lavapiés. As they packed my jewelry, I noticed the sticker shown above. I knocked off my social anxiety and decided to ask the owners if they knew anything about gentrification in Lavapiés.

The woman, Dolores, told me, “We were living in Lavapiés for more than 10 years, and an investment fund bought the building. Once our contract was over, they raised the price of the apartments more than 100%, and of course we couldn’t afford that. So we were forced to move to another neighborhood.”

Many people like Dolores are being forced out of their homes in Lavapiés and are relocating to other neighborhoods in Madrid. Dolores continued, “In the same building and others that were bought by the same investment fund, currently there are many Airbnb apartments that cost more than 100 euros every night, which we can’t afford either.” There were more local residents that owned shops before, but vacation rental platforms such as Airbnb changed the demographics of the neighborhood by converting these spaces into rental homes.

The sticker from Lavapiés shown below illustrates the transnational impact of companies like Airbnb. It highlights the interconnection of gentrification in Lavapiés and colonization in Palestine and how companies like Airbnb operate through and profit from human displacement. As shown in the image below, there is support in Lavapiés for the boycott of Airbnb and other rental platforms. A movement like BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions), mentioned on the sticker, specifically targets Israel but underscores these global interconnections.

”Boycott Airbnb, gentrifying our neighborhoods, colonizing in Palestine” (Photo courtesy of the author.)

Dolores said that the Ayuntamiento (Madrid City Council) isn’t doing anything about gentrification or providing the community with any updates despite many calls for them to do so, especially after the pandemic.

Jorge Garca Castaño, a local representative (concejal) in the municipal government, said in 2017 that he did not believe that what was happening in Lavapiés could be characterized as gentrification. Instead, he said the neighborhood was experiencing significant tension between the local population and tourists. He also said that the city council was taking steps to manage tourist flow in order to prevent overcrowding of tourist-oriented properties at the expense of residential uses but did not specifically explain how and when they would do this. I was unable to find any plans or speeches from local officials addressing the gentrification caused by heightened tourism.

A global problem

Throughout my adventures in Lavapiés, I was reminded of my hometown in New York City – especially because of the gentrification occurring in both spaces, including my own neighborhood. It is a pattern I keep seeing in huge cities. In Madrid, gentrification is a continuous problem not only in Lavapiés, but in other neighborhoods as well. Capitalism thrives on gentrification.

As I worked through this article, I was keenly aware of my position as a tourist in Spain; I thought about how my positionality impacts local people and about ways I could support small businesses while I am here. As huge investment companies take over low-income and minority neighborhoods just to make a profit, the residents are forced out of their homes and into other neighborhoods and cities. Displacement of this kind is echoed in neighborhoods like Lavapiés around the world.