In June, Madrid City Hall inaugurated the Ouka Leele Intergenerational Center, at number 16 Calle del Bronce. Divided into a youth center already operational and a senior center which, according to municipal sources, will open “soon”, it is one of the first public establishments in Barrio de los Metales.
Named after the number of roads with metallurgical names, it is actually an unofficial neighborhood of Legazpi (in the Arganzuela district). Developed and expanded over the last two decades, its population is mainly made up of young families with children. Neighbors who have been asking for years for equipment like the Ouka Leele, which pays homage in its name to the versatile Madrid artist and photographer who died in 2022.
Lorena remembers that there is no public library or institute in the area. He also criticizes the administrations for under-exploiting the Adif land in the area, now partially sold to a private company which operates it with the Espacio Ibercaja Delicias. This is why the center has been very well received in the neighborhood. “We hugged him with emotion,” says Lorena. But today, the operation of this space is causing controversy: “They do not allow people over 35 to enter their study room.” For this resident, this is “a clear case of discrimination based on age in a public place”.
From celebration to anger
The Ouka Leele arrived in the Barrio de los Metales like water in the desert: “When the project takes shape, we see that it will be a center for young people, something we are full of. It’s great that they have a space to do their choreography, role play and generally do things that interest them. We like this part of leisure and sociability in a public space, but we think that it makes no sense to apply restrictions in the study room.
Things started to go wrong when they noticed the restrictions placed on entering the study hall. “The world has changed and now many people continue their studies beyond the age of 35. Preventing or limiting our access makes no sense,” says Lorena.
The neighbor decided to send a complaint form to the municipal council in September. The municipality then chose to introduce a transactional amendment which will make it possible to determine a frequency of access for those over 35, provided that their prior request is accepted.
An intergenerational center that is not yet finished
For Lorena, this continues to preserve “ageism.” It requires free use and under the same conditions of public space by all residents: “Otherwise, there is no consonance with the intergenerational character sought in the center and which seems super adequate to us.”
From the field of social policies, family and equality of the Consistory, led by councilor José Fernández, they defend themselves: “The Ouka Leele Intergenerational Center is not yet operational in its conception of a space of coexistence and joint participation in activities between older people and young people. For the moment, only the youth center is functioning. The senior center will open soon. Consequently, the rules of youth centers, whose users are between 14 and 35 years old, are applied.
These sources assure that the executive of José Luis Martínez-Almeida will resolve the problem when the center becomes an intergenerational space, beyond its current status as a youth center: “When the center for the elderly is inaugurated, the relevant rules will be established in the resource document. so that this intergenerational coexistence exists.
