A Spanish immigrant gives his view about what it’s like for a “latino” to live life and spend his free time in this city. This is his view and that of others.
Ramón Lafée
Even though it’s English, the capital city has a certain Spanish-speaking milieu which makes it easier for Spaniards and Latin Americans not to feel so homesick.
We know. Getting on in London isn’t easy for people who aren’t from here. After a hard day’s work we just feel tired and want to get home. But not everything is work. We all know about the countless options for leisure and entertainment that the English capital offers to all ages and incomes.
Latin Americans know how to have fun, and even more so when there are people to have fun with. The Latin American community has markedly increased in the last ten years.
A recent study by the University of London (which other people may agree or disagree with) has confirmed that the Latin American population has quadrupled in the last ten years, rising from 31,000 to 113,000 inhabitants, a significant increase which really boosts our numbers as an immigrant community in the city. This increase is seen in the different social strata within the Latin American community, from students who work menial jobs to professionals who have been in the city for years. All of them have something in common, as well as language: they know how to enjoy themselves in their free time.
And this is where the great capital comes into its own in catering to the needs of Spanish speakers.
This is the case of Rodolfo, a young Spanish arts graduate who works as a sales assistant in one of Britain’s most successful chains of bookstores.
“It’s hard work and the pay isn’t great, but I’m happy because I work close to home and I can take advantage of the experiences on offer in this great city” he says. “In my leisure time I try to visit museums seeing that they are free. There is such a variety of museums that you could go visit one for a month repeatedly and still discover something new each time. Another thing I like to do for leisure is buy a sandwich and juice and make a small picnic in one of the parks with some friends. But I also go alone and spend the afternoon reading a book when the weather’s good.”
Going to the park is also a good recreational activity for the Guzmán family, a married couple from Mexico with two children who have a small café in Richmond.
In their opinion London isn’t an ideal city for families with small children.
“Other than a few parks and fairs, there isn’t a lot to do for the youngest children. Of course there are the museums, but my kids get bored there. Sometimes we take them to the cinema but it’s really expensive, so we’ve decided to change the old TV for a new one and watch films indoors.”
But someone who simply cannot stay indoors on a Friday night is Julia, a young Dominican, a drummer in a band in the lively and multicultural neighbourhood Brixton, in the south of the city. Her job as a barista in a chain of cafes hasn’t tarnished her dream of her group one day achieving fame. Her idea of spending the weekend is to go to bars, discover new bands and when she can eat “homemade latin cuisine”, as she calls it.
In fact, the spread of our community is also evident in the amount of pubs, bars, restaurants and markets that offer typically Latin American food and drink, places that are first the port of call of entertainment for many people.
Ingredients for Latin American food can be quite easily found in various ethnic markets in London.
Yadira, as she is known, knows from experience. Being a typical Venezuelan grandmother, she likes to cook and prepare food from her country for her daughter’s friends at home.
“I don’t go out ever, I’m too old for that now. I’m happy when friends come over and I can cook for them. I’ve even told my grandson to bring his friends over so I can make them stew.”
She remembers with nostalgia when she used to go out to the door of her residence and sit in her favourite seat to spend the whole day, conversing with neighbours and people that used to pass by her house in the rural town of Los Millanes, on the island of Margarita in Venezuela.
“I had never seen as bid a city as London in all my life, I miss being able to spend time with people from the town. Sometimes I go out to the park that we have opposite the house and I spend the day on a bench reading or knitting, whenever it isn’t raining or the weather isn’t so severe”, she says. There’s a piece of London for everybody, offering leisure and diversion to the Latin American community, no matter what the age or socioeconomic position. This city might speak English, but it understands us when we ask for entertainment in Spanish.
(Translated by: Jose Stovell – Email: jose_stovell@hotmail.co.uk) – Photos: Pixabay
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