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The neighborhood of San José is not just any neighborhood in Almendralejo. For years, renew and regenerate your image and environment It has been a priority objective for the different government teams that have passed through the city hall. A few months ago, with the inauguration of Federico Mayo’s new apartment blocks, a first step was taken in seeing a new environment in some previously highly degraded areas. But there are many more. Recently, Almendralejo has been part of a contest called Europan where young architects from all over Europe are faced with the possibility of devising future architectural projects. There are many different projects, but Extremadura included the possible regeneration of other areas of San José among the priorities. And more specifically, the rehabilitation and urban regeneration of 18 blocks and 160 homess, with different names each of them, and which are known as ‘The Flats of the Marquis’.
From the region they have always defended the possibility of regenerating this neighborhood. San José is by no means a forgotten neighborhood, but an area that has had its time to change. In fact, the neighborhood has many services of interest such as the health center, the Carolina Coronado institute, the Montero de Espinosa school, the Mensajeros de la Paz headquarters, three pharmacies, numerous cafeterias and the proximity of the Tomás de la Hera.
Doing a project and executing it is not something that will happen in the short term, but this Friday there was a first step. More than twenty of architects under 40 They took a walking tour of every corner of the neighborhood, accompanied by the General Director of Architecture of the Junta, Alfonso Gómez Goñi, the mayor of Almendralejo, José María Ramírez, and architecture and housing technicians from the local council. They inspected all the details of the neighborhood and felt first-hand what is cooked there. “It is an attractive project because it involves urban rehabilitation and regeneration, but also social regeneration. With his ideas we want to execute a reality and face a problem that is not only urban ”, said Alfonso Gómez. It also refers to the problems of coexistence that are generated there by the presence of citizens of Romanian nationality who do not usually have good conduct or civic behavior.
Architects are integrated into teams that examine projects and decide whether or not to present their ideas. More than twenty decided to be in Almendralejo to see San José first hand. The rest were able to follow the tour of the streets live when this visit to the neighborhood was broadcast via streaming.
The architects asked many questions about the time of the houses, the price of the rents, the dimensions of their interiors and, they were even able to verify the poor condition of the interior of the same by visiting the blocks inside. They took photographs and consulted their doubts with the municipal technicians to adjust their future projects to the regulations of the town. While it was happening, many neighbors and curious people attended this test live.
With Almendralejo they are six proposals that Extremadura has made to the Europan contest. Recently, the recovery of an industrial estate in the town of Casar de Cáceres was analyzed. The San José neighborhood is heading for another change.
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