Neighbors

Yolanda Veiga has always lived in La Ribera de Deusto, her parents already did it. In this February 2017 interview, Yolanda shares some of her childhood memories and reviews the transformation that the neighborhood has undergone as a result of the Urban Plan that will end up completely changing her birthplace.

José María Macho is native to La Ribera; Luis Palomo arrived when he was still a child. Both know the history of the most famous old peninsula of Bilbao very well and have witnessed its evolution.
During A walk along the island, they talk about what it was like years ago and the differences they see in the landscape compared to the past. To remember those past years, they list the bars, shops, tobacco shops, hair saloons and others that were in the neighborhood, and they talk about the fiestas of La Ribera and Zorrozaurre. They do also remember the cookie makers, about 500 or 600 Artiach workers (women) who came and went from the Ribera every day using the boats that connected the city with the peninsula.

Some of them were raised in the Ribera de Deusto/Zorrozaurre, they are, therefore, inhabitants of the historic neighborhood of Bilbao for years. From the txoko Beko Herri they talk about how the neigborhood used to be; they remember the division into 3 parts that existed in the neighborhood and list the different shops or businesses that were there, like Emiliano's hairdresser who spent the days between the bar and his job of cutting the hair of the children of La Ribera. They also remember fondly neighbors, families and houses that were part of the landscape, like that in which there were pigs or the one that had a henhouse.

Ziortza arrived in the Ribera in the year 2000. She returned to Euskadi after a few years away from home and she decided to settle in the neighborhood mainly due to its location. At that time, the Urban Plan that later would completely transform the landscape was still unknown. After living first hand the recent history of the old peninsula, Ziortza talks about what makes the neighbourhood different from the others and the role of the neighbors and cultural initiatives in the process of transformation.

Miguel arrived to La Ribera in 2000. He moved to the neighborhood from the city center because he was looking for a large space to live in. He bought an industrial pavilion, even if he finally opted for a house. Miguel tells about "the adventure" of moving to La Ribera, and how it was to get adapted to this small town within the city of Bilbao. He also talks about the rehabilitation of the houses, which began when he arrived in the neighborhood and forced him to stay away from home for two years.

Santi SOS is a singer-songwriter, cartoonist and actor; In short, an artist. He arrived in La Ribera de Deusto years ago looking for a space that would allow him to create, so for some time he occupied different houses in the neighborhood with other artists. Santi SOS talks about the squatter movement and the boom it had in the area due to the amount of abandoned houses that existed for various reasons. He talks about the relationship with the neighbors, about how unknown this area was for him until he decided to move in, about his reasons for not wanting to leave it later and about the feeling of closeness and the neighborhood atmosphere that does not exist in other areas of the city. Santi SOS webpage.

The Egia Family moved to Ribera de Deusto in 1915, when Ascen Egia's father was 8 years old. From 1916 the family ruled a butcher shop that remained open until 2011 thanks to the work of several generations. Nowadays Ascen also works in a butcher shop, following with a long falimiar saga, and she remembers with nostalgia the beauty of the Ribera.

'La Isla que Nunca Fue, las memorias de un náufrago inglés en Zorrozaurre' is the title of Robert Alcock's novel, with La Ribera de Deusto / Zorrotzaurre as the protagonist. Almudena and Robert bought an apartment in Zorrotzaurre in 2000. They both say that it is an area with its own character and they remember that when they arrived the neighborhood was a great unknown to many Bilbao residents. Almudena was part of the Neighborhood Association when the Urban Plan was announced and not being invited to be an active part of the process, they decided to generate their own process, creating a Forum in which to openly discuss and talk about the wishes of its inhabitants for the future of the neighborhood.

Estibaliz and Jesse arrived at the Ribera de Deusto in March 1996, when their son was 4 years old. They came from Deusto and decided to settle in La Ribera because of the price of the apartments; in Deusto they went up, while in the Ribera they were lower. When they remember their early years in La Ribera, they talk about the feeling of living in a town and how once they got to know the bars and the people, they began to leave Deusto aside. (more…)

Constan is a former worker from different businesses in La Ribera de Deusto and Zorrozaurre. Constan still visits the neighborhood regularly with her bike. She wonders around the neighborhood remembering with affection what the landscape looked like years ago and her routine when she worked on it. She says that she used to take a little boat to cross to the other side of the river. At that time the public transport was full of people coming to La Ribera, with queues to board the boat or restaurants full of people.