When I first moved to Sevilla in 1992 at first I lived in a tiny studio apartment in calle Mateos Gago and a year later moved to a larger place across and down the street, on the corner of Rodrigo Caro, where I lived for 18 years. But almost from day one I met Antonio the newsagent, whose tiny shop was also filled with sweets, cold drinks and school supplies for the kids at the nearby elementary school, international papers and magazines for us “guiris” who lived in the barrio, videos and cds… and of course there was always Antonio. Turns out he had just opened there a couple of years before I arrived in town, but he became a solid fixture in my day to day life in the barrio.

Over the weekend I found out that last Friday was his final day at his cosy kiosko and I missed his farewell party with all the neighbours who either still live there (next to none) or who used to, like me. They showed up to wish him well, to show him how much he has meant to them all these years. And for me that’s it for the Barrio Santa Cruz. It no longer exists for me as a barrio. Antonio’s tiny shop was the last stand – and last straw – because, as I understand it, this was a forced retirement because – guess what? – the building he has occupied for all these wonderful years is now going to become MORE FUCKING TOURIST APARTMENTS.

Below you can see a lovely note left by a family who also missed his farewell party. 💔