El Higueron is where we live during the week, albeit on the outskirts of it.
When we tell people at work where we live they always look a mixture of puzzled, slightly alarmed and unsure of what to say next.
This is because El Higueron is in the top fifteen places of deprivation in the whole of Spain. Its residents have a mean average income of roughly 8500 Euros per year. It has a reputation, well deserved, for having residents that take a more liberal view of what constitutes the law.
El Higueron is a borough eight kilometres outside of Cordoba that was built up in the 1940’s and 50’s to house the workers of the railway that adjoins it. It sits next to the road to Sevillla where freight trucks pass throughout the day and night bringing their wealth to and from the two cities and bypassing the community of 14000 people. During the summer its population doubles as the Cordoban owners of hundreds of illegally built homes on the adjacent flood plain abandon the city to chill out in their pools and large gardens that surround the small town. It has a large Gitano (gypsy) population who continue to be looked down upon. It is, by any measure, a dump although a peaceful one at that. It is where we live during the working week and because it is where we live, we have learned to appreciate it for what it is and not for what it could be or perhaps even should be.
The local football club serves all ages and both genders and is a hive of activity every evening and on the weekends. The locals are proud of it.These two gentlemen have stocked up on victuals essential for the replenishment of the body after partaking of some seriously powerful weed.The local supermarket is one of great importanceThe hairdressing salon is a beacon of classThe train station sees trains going to and from central Cordoba every two hours for the price of one euro 90. Locals want a more regular service.One of the beauty spots used by local kids to smoke weed. Have youself a merry Christmas in Cordoba.The fate of any vehicle left for too long behind the supermarketThe local government offices were officially opened this year after five years of fixing faulty foundations in the newly built building. Still, it has a health centre, a library and an art gallery.One of the failed cafe businessesweekend days are spent drinking and smoking potent weedThe inevitable Cat LadyOne of the locals is always busy collecting recycling to sell to a factory a few kilometres away. He raids the recyling bins. If it has value, he takes it.Kids doing what kids do. It involves weed.The cafe/restaurant for older persons. Very popular especially on a cold dark night. One of the cafes run by Moroccan immigrant familiesThe local government have supplied pretty Christmas lightsThe two bus services into Cordoba are THE lifeline for many who wish to see family and to work and to studyLa Paz (means peace in Spanish) Hostel has not seen a guest for many years.No one seems interested in buying this landThere is some wealth here. But the streets were not designed for people with their own carsPan means bread in Spanish. So the very popular bakery is called Peter Pan. Geddit?The local primary school with five classrooms. Secondary pupils will either not bother going or will have to bus themselves into town.El Higueron has a lot of social housing. I mean, a lot.The local church that none of the locals go to – it mainly has outside visitors and the crane rental company next to it.This is El Higueron.The army camp on our side of the railway tracks. It has its own raillway line, its own water tower and its own everything. It also has a bugle at 8 in the morning and the last post at 6 in the evenning.The electricity lines and mobile phone masts have not put people off building their illegal homes hereThe communal water tap. It is where we all get our drinking water from. The Post Office will not deliver to illegal homes but they will to post boxes. There is, of course, a farmyard along our street. Why would there not be?This is our street. In the background is the ancient seat of Moorish governement of the whole of Spain. Before that, the trainline. Because these homes are illegal the water board is not allowed to supply clean drinking water nor sewage treatment. It does have a humantarian obligation to provide the drinking water fountains dottd around.Luna helped me a lot on our wanders
