Travel chronicles

Valencia

Part of my family hails from Valencia. As such, I visited here often when I was a child. It was always a great event: the town centre architecture made for a magnificent change compared to my home town, and there were always new things to do, see and learn about. I rode my first urban bus here, and visited the first zoo here, for example. Exciting times!

Later on, I moved to this town and lived there for some years. Unfortunately, I rarely visited many places --in a touristic, curious way--, since I was pretty busy with my studies and work to have much leisure time.

Now I still visit it every now and then, and I like to dedicate a little bit of time to wander around and mostly explore, photograph and document nice hidden corners, just before the current cleptocratic leaders demolish everything to build ugly square grey buildings in the name of progress.

I simply used to take these pictures for my own enjoyment and nostalgia, but I recently noticed that some photos I took reflect things that don't exist any more, as they have been pulled down to make way for new buildings. This saddened me considerably, and I decided to write about these and publish the pictures so we can get a sense of what the town is going through--and what we and future generations are losing by agreeing to its mindful destruction and senseless appropriation by the most disgusting and brutal capitalism I have ever witnessed.

Incidentally I'd also like to show you those hidden corners and encourage you to enjoy an alternative Valencia--one that is humble, and has to be discovered by actually walking its streets. This might not be as glamorous and shiny as the Valencia you're being sold by travel agencies, whose packages mostly consist in visiting the "Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias" complex, but it will probably be the one that lingers in you when recalling your visit.