On the Mainkai, which is currently closed, the city has had brightly painted playing areas laid out for basketball, tennis and chess players.

However, nobody had thought of the Latin dancers who had to vacate their place at the memorial for the deported Jews in front of the European Central Bank a year ago.

Now they have conquered the space for their lively dance again.

On Saturday, many couples moved to the salsa rhythm in front of the Historical Museum on the Mainkai – they danced to live music from the local Cuban community.

A DJ with a salsa dance group from Darmstadt was also invited for demonstrations.

"This is the center of the city, with the Iron Bridge and the Main.

It doesn't get any better than that," said the organizer, the Frankfurt dance teacher Mariluz Fuente, about the premiere on the Mainkai.

Even inexperienced people simply mingled with the dancers, the atmosphere in Havana could hardly have been more relaxed.

Promising prospects

The Mainkai between Alter Brücke and Untermainbrücke is to remain closed until September 5th.

According to the decision of the Roman coalition, this should always be the case during the summer holidays in the future.

In addition, at a time to be determined, all motor vehicles are to remain banned there daily from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m., on all weekends and public holidays.

Actually promising prospects for the Latin dancers, who would like to use the Mainkai more often, as Fuente hopes.

The salsa dancers had obtained permission from the city for their performance on Saturday.

Out of consideration for the local residents, only a "matinée cubana" was allowed - from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.

"You feel like a tramp"

The city had banned dancing at the ECB memorial.

During the Nazi era, thousands of Frankfurt Jews were transported by trains to the extermination camps from the former Grossmarkthalle, which is now part of the European Central Bank.

The memorial at the ECB reminds us of this.

Since the ban on dancing was pronounced there, the salsa community has been looking for another place on the Main.

But when you dance at the Honsellbrücke in Ostend, you get in the way of the Montez art association based there, says Leo Tobias, who is also one of the organizers of the Frankfurt salsa scene.

At the Deutschherrnbrücke, near the Hafenpark, where people danced this summer, there have been complaints from residents and a citizens' initiative for a long time.

"You feel like a tramp who is constantly being chased away,"

What remains is the old university campus in Bockenheim, which the city assigned to street dancers from the Latin scene after the ban on dancing at the ECB.

Almost 100 people were still there on Friday evening.

But the uneven floor on the old campus makes dancing difficult.

The desolate place also lacks any ambience.

The old campus is not particularly popular with the dancers, confirmed the Bockenheim DJ, stage name Nobody, who is DJing that evening.

"We want to have an attractive place that can be used permanently," is Leo Tobias' request to the city.

Salsa dancers know it's not easy to find one downtown.

Caribbean dance nights are usually long, so protests from local residents are never long in coming.

The Mainkai could therefore only be a summer interlude.

The Latin dancers have not yet given up hope of finding a solution that is acceptable to them, says Tobias, "but many are now going to Mainz-Kastel".

The banks of the Rhine are currently regarded as the new, attractive hotspot for salsa dancing in the region.