The Caja Mágica venue is located in the Manzanares linear park, in the San Fermín neighborhood, south of Madrid. The facilities have three large rooms that host sports, musical and cultural shows. In recent days, the neighborhood has been in the news with the concerts held last weekend in La Caja, which have pushed to the extreme the neighbors who have been raising their voices for years about the noise, dirt and collapse generated in neighboring neighborhoods.
Antonio Abueitah, spokesman for the Butarque Neighborhood Association, tells us that “what happened this Saturday was brutal, our houses were shaking” and recalls that the noise, although it has always been present, is getting louder. “Parties and festivals are invented, and there is no time limit. Here, events can last until two in the morning, while in other places like Wizink, Wanda or Bernabéu, events end before 11:30 p.m. or midnight,” Abueitah denounces, highlighting the discrimination against the southern areas.
The fact is that Real Madrid has finally decided to temporarily suspend all concerts at the Santiago Bernabéu after complaints from neighbors about the noise generated by last year’s macro-events. In addition, the mayor of the city, José Luis Martínez Almeida, took the opportunity to highlight his role as defender of the rest and well-being of the residents of the area. That is why the neighbors of the Caja Mágica feel aggrieved by the difference in treatment between the neighborhoods in the center and north of the city and those in the south, which, after years of neighborhood protests, are still waiting for solutions.
“We’re fed up, we’re not second-class citizens,” says Marina, a resident of San Fermín. “It seems that the problems our southern neighbours have don’t matter. We have to resign ourselves and endure because we’re in the south and we have less money than those in the north.” Also take the opportunity to point out that they make the residents of San Fermín angry, like the sludge treatment centre or the crematorium that should also be built in their neighbourhood. “Are we in a different category?” he asks.
Juan and Justo live just 200 metres from the Caja Mágica and have been forced to install barriers in their private garden because some concert-goers enter their property to urinate on concert nights. They report that even though they have double-glazed windows, they can hear the music loudly and believe that the biggest problem is the dirt: “The whole neighbourhood becomes a pee zone”. The collapse of the roads in the area is also constant, so much so that Justo tells us that sometimes he cannot go and see his grandson because he cannot get the car out of his street.
The noise is not limited to the areas adjacent to the Caja, in fact, social networks were filled last Saturday with complaints and indignation from residents of more distant neighborhoods such as Carabanchel. Silvia Gambarte claims that, although she lives almost 4 km from the place, she heard the music on Saturday as if it was coming from the neighboring house. “I believe that the residents of the southern neighborhoods have the same right as those of the Bernabéu neighborhood not to suffer from the noise.” Also take the opportunity to remember that near the Caja Mágica is the October 12 Hospital and urges the city council to take the problems of working-class neighborhoods seriously.
A problem that comes from far away
The spokesperson for the San Fermín Neighborhood Association, Mayte Pocero, recalls that the neighbors have been suffering inconveniences since the construction of what they call “the Tragic Box.” Pocero says the complex is a complete absurdity. “Since the construction of the Magic Box, we have swallowed the largest objects in the neighborhood: cement mixers, excavators, cranes… Our children and our elderly, many of whom are sick, are suffering the consequences. “My daughter suffers from chronic asthma, and so do I because of the toxins released during the work,” he adds.
He boom Macroeconomic events such as Mad Cool, which has moved south, and the continued activity of the Caja Mágica, have generated more indignation. “The thousands of jobs they promise have no real impact on trade or employment in our regions,” they lament. Aurora, a resident of Periana Street, points out that the great economic benefits of the companies are in no way reflected in the improvement of the quality of life of the neighbors. “This is not a neighborhood battle or a ban on culture, but we must find a friendly solution,” he concludes.
Neighbors denounce the “lack of respect” towards their neighborhood, where they have been abandoned for years in matters as essential as the proper maintenance of officially protected apartments. “They want to throw us out,” they say, while they continue to face problems of noise and pollution. In addition, they explain that the neighborhood faces difficulties such as the lack of accessibility for people with reduced mobility and the saturation of parking lots and pedestrian crossings on event days.
Dolores and Josefa, residents of Adora Street, talk about the constant traffic of buses, taxis and trucks that block the streets and parks. “They fine us if we don’t move the car on the days of the event, but the police are only there to control the entrances to the place. Nobody cares about what happens on our streets,” they say. However, they believe that the most serious problem is cleaning, as a municipal cleaner also points out: “Nobody sees it until they get close to it, it even generates parasites.”
So far, the Madrid City Council has not given a satisfactory response to the residents, although the Ombudsman has already published a resolution in which he recommends “minimizing the negative acoustic effects” and being able to “reconcile the desire for the population to participate in these events with the neighbors’ right to privacy and private and family life.
The neighborhood associations surrounding the Caja Mágica see no other option than to continue denouncing the situation and demanding solutions. “We are not second-class citizens and we will not accept this discriminatory treatment,” convinced that they will not stop until the authorities take effective measures to mitigate the impact of these events on their daily lives.
