So far so close

Madrid, the African

Audio 48:30

Vanessa Cadena, Afro-Colombian activist from Madrid in the multicultural neighborhood of Lavapies.

© Inès Edel-Garcia

By: Céline Develay Mazurelle Follow

6 mins

New episode of our series of journeys through the past and the black present of the big cities of the world.

Direction Madrid, capital of a country located just 14 km from the African coast but which is still largely unaware of its Africanness. 

Advertising

To say that Spain is close to Africa is obvious.

Geographic first, Spain being the only country in Europe to keep territories (Ceuta and Melilla) on African soil.

History too.

The Muslim period of the Iberian Peninsula (711-1492) when many North Africans set foot on the soil of Al Andalus, is an important page in the long history of interbreeding in the peninsula, made up of cross heritages between the Arab world, Greek, Latin, Jewish but also African.

So much so that it was said that Africa began at the foot of the Pyrenees. 

Today in Madrid, a conservative and Castilian capital with a population of more than 3 million, as elsewhere in the country, this heritage is largely unknown or even ignored.

The same goes for the history of slavery and colonialism, the Spaniards not having made much publicity, unlike the Portuguese, of their colonial enterprise in Africa, particularly in Equatorial Guinea. 

"Afro-Spanish" born in Spain, Africans from the continent who arrived more recently or "Afro-Latinos" from South America, the black people of the country would number 1 to 2 million.

And among them, 700,000 would be of Spanish nationality.

Very few official data exist on this subject and the African and Afro-descendant community in Spain, aware of its invisibility, is now trying to count itself and come together.  

In Madrid, it is in Lavapies that you can find the multicultural face of the city.

Spaniards, Senegalese and Bangladeshi immigrants, international tourists rub shoulders there... Anti-racist activists gather there and make common cause, in particular to defend the city's undocumented Africans.

In the great cultural institutions of Madrid, on the other hand, black faces and history remain invisible, as if kept in a blind spot of the Spanish national narrative.

Then you have to go get them.

This is what our reporter did when he discovered Afro-Madrilenians who are moving the city and the lines of a country that has difficulty looking its Africanness in the face.  

A report by Inès Edel-Garcia. 

Show originally aired on December 5, 2021.

This report is part of our series of trips to meet African diasporas, whether in 

,

 or

, etc.

Speakers:

Antumi Toasijé, Justo Bolekia Boleká, Elena García, Becha Sita Kumbu, Serigne Mbayé, Vanessa Cadena, Yeison García López, Rubén H. Bermúdez, Ana Cebrián Martínez.

To discover : 

- The Museo de America offers until February 2022

. 

- Some unmissable places in Madrid are intimately linked to the slavery and colonial history of Spain.

For example, auctions of enslaved people were held in the Plaza Mayor and "human zoos" were held in Retiro Park.

As for the luxurious district of Salamanca, it is closely linked to the Marquis of Vinent, a slaver who grew rich from the transatlantic slave trade.

- At

, discover the work of Juan de Pareja, in particular

 on which this former black slave and member of Velázquez's workshop depicted himself.

- A stone's throw from Atocha station, the basílica-parroquia Nuestra Señora de Atocha houses a

very similar to the Moreneta that can also be found in Catalonia.

Until the 17th century, within the Catholic Church, black people were represented as figures close to power.

- 

 is the multicultural district of Madrid.

Calle Esgrima, you will meet

 who has made her sewing workshop BeshaWear a solidarity and anti-racist shop.

Further down Calle Mesón de Paredes, the Sindicato de Manteros recently opened a shop called “

” to financially support undocumented street vendors.

Going down Calle Embajadores, opposite the Mercado de San Fernando, you will discover the fresco “

 and our brothers and sisters migrant victims... who struggle to obtain their papers” - this street vendor died in 2018 after a chase with the police.

- In Madrid, the

 is more concentrated in the southern suburbs, in the municipalities of Léganès, Móstoles, Alcorcón, Fuenlabrada, Getafe, Parla or Torrejón de Ardoz where Spanish hip-hop was born.

Every August 15, the Bubi community celebrates the Madre Bisila, the patron saint of the Guinean island of Bioko.

- The old slaughterhouses of

have long hosted the

 and the editorial staff of the online magazine

.

The collective has just launched a crowdfunding campaign to create an “

” independently.

To read :

- Rogelio López Cuenca,

, 2016

- Juan Valbuena,

, 2018

- Observatorio Español del Racismo y la Xenophobia,

, 2020

- Lucía Asué Mbomio Rubio,

, Sial/Casa de África, 2017

- Rubén H. Bermúdez,

Encuadernación Rústica, 2018

- Moha Gerehou,

, Peninsula, 2021.

Have :

- Miguel Ángel Rosales,

, 2016, 75'

- Telemadrid,

, 2018, 40'

- Javier Fernández Vázquez,

, 2020, 88'

- Rubén H. Bermúdez,

, 2021, 61'.

Slideshow

{{ scope.counterText }}

{{ scope.legend }} © {{ scope.credits }}

{{ scope.counterText }}

I

{{ scope.legend }}

© {{ scope.credits }}

Newsletter

Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

google-play-badge_EN

• Africa

• Spain

• Travel

On the same subject

So far so close

Montreal the African

So far so close

Brussels the African 1/2

So far so close

Lisbon the African - Episode 1