Thursday, February 26th, 2009
by Kika Patrick
Sitting in the oficina of European Vibe magazine, a man pressed the buzzer of the door. Popping my head up inquisitively, I noted the man was a little too scruffy to be a colleague, a little too old to be a friend.
There was nothing about his imidiate appearance that gave me answers as to who he was. Looking towards the others that were working that day, they also looked troubled as to who he could be and what he wanted. The stranger, walking straight passed those who were perhaps waiting for an introduction, asked in Spanish, to someone busying himself at a computer, if he could have some money. With a flash of an answer (no tengo I presumed, no transaction took place) he was away. To where – who knows but those left in the office were in shock of this strange procedure of gallently walking into a place of work and begging.
The guy in the office he asked is always here and told us that he does this often. Begging is a familiar sight in Madrid. Perhaps you’ve seen them outside Metro entrances, wailing in a slightly miserable and monotonous tone, “Por favor señor/señora“. Perhaps they are blind, or strangely limbed. Most reactions are for passers by to do exactly that and get on with their day. Do not confuse these beggars with those jolly people you see on the Metro and in the stations themselves entertaining us with their musical talents. Unless it’s that one guy who goes around with a battered fiddle and subjects passengers to some scraping sound that bearly resembles a tune. But on the whole these people are artists and asking for a contribution to their work, not hand-outs.
Moving on from Metro trains to the Cercanías. I noticed, whilst getting sent here, there and everywhere as an EFL Teacher, that begging has taken on an observedly 21st Century feel. Many times, when quietly reading a book, my knees were lightly touched by a neatly produced slip of paper. These computer printed mini leaflets would be explaining the predicament of the person who was moving down carriages, handing them out. The first time this happened to me I thought how awful it was – more littering, more paper wasted that no one wants. One of my biggest pet hates in our world are those people (actually employed by some organisation) who hand out flyers to strangers promoting something or other. How many times I have to walk through the arms of these people, walk over dropped and wasted pieces of paper on the pavement and see those who are idle enough to take them and promptly throw them in the bin. It’s criminal. So imagine how pleased I was to find the man on the Cercanias come back 5 minutes later and collect all his slips, to be recycled and inform more passengers of his plight.
I am against begging. I don’t believe in giving money out of pity for someone’s situation. I find it insulting to all of human race to do so. However, I do believe in charity and giving to those who make an effort to work themselves out of a situation. Re-surfacing onto the streets of Madrid you may have noticed lads on the street, perhaps outside supermarkets or conveniently placed on busy corners, holding a wad of newspapers in one hand and attempting to greet every pedestrian in order to sell it.
La Farola is the publications name. This I found out after several months of walking past the same guy who constantly said ‘Hola’ to me, I decided to stop and ask about what he was selling. Call it pester power, call it curious by nature but I was glad of his explanation. He told me in English (for he was keen to practice and Spanish was also not his first language) that it was a newspaper sold by the homeless and cost 2€. He was from Nigeria and living here temporarlily. On hearing I was from London he immidiately piped up and told me how he hated this country and wanted to move there as soon as possible. From this I thought Spain was a convenient stepping stone to bigger and better plans. No warnings of how expensive London was to live in could disuade him from wanting to live there (so the complete oppostite to every person who is currently living there or has done so in the past).
I decided to buy one and have a gander with my limeted Spanish as to what was inside. Those of you familiar with the U.K will know of a similar magazine called The Big Issue. This was set up by Gordon Roddick, partner of the late Anita Roddick who together created the Body Shop. Their aim was to give the homeless of London an opportunity to work themselves out of poverty. Now running with the slogan ‘the change is in your pocket’, Big Issue is found in most British cities providing the homeless that without it would be begging on the streets, with a legitimate income. The magazine has articles from many different contributors including those who have slept rough focusing on social issues of today and how we can change the world we live in through activity.
I thought that La Farola might have the same focus and indeed the issue I picked up had many articles on the state of environment, eucation and culture. So the next time you pass a guy holding a paper in his hand, be sure to enquire after it. I asked my Nigerian friend if he had to have identification to sell and he offered to show me his. This is so you know you’re buying from a credible vendor and not someone who nicked it. Unfortunately, I feel the spirt of this enterprise might be a little lost on the Spanish folk. Some who come out of the supermarket where I bought mine, and approach the guy just give him some money and don’t bother taking the paper. Indeed when I paid him, I had to prompt him to give it to me. I shall trawl my way through it, trying to understand the articles in depth on the metro whilst hopefully avoiding that annoying Violinist.
