Calle Pérez Galdós could be – should be – such a pretty residential street. Instead it’s a war zone with late night (all night) bars, their patrons (mostly students, local and foreign, many underage) spilling out into the street, shouting and “singing” and screaming, at times also fighting.

I lived at the end of this street for five years and during that whole time I barely slept. At first I joined my neighbours in calling the police and at times I even stopped police in the street on my way home at night and pointed out all the illegal activity going on. Nothing. They did nothing even though they could see 15-year-olds falling down drunk, huge crowds shouting, never mind that it’s not permitted to DRINK IN THE STREET. They did nothing.

In the end I gave up and moved. Today I passed by and see that nothing has changed. Why is this street being “protected”, whose palms are being greased, so that this illegal activity goes on every night of the week? It is not normal that a barrio as lovely and vibrant as La Alfalfa should have been thrown under the bus like this. What’s going on?