The unconditional supporters of local culture have a corner in the Pedró neighborhood of this city in Baix Llobregat for five years. We go there on a Friday night.
It's an ordinary night in the Pedró neighborhood of Cornellà de Llobregat. Josep Torras i Bages street could seem solitary if it weren't for the twenty or so people chatting with a beer in their hands in front of the Sala Padró, a cultural space managed by residents of the city that acts as the “little brother” of the Orfeó Catalònia. This is how Javier Sánchez, from the Gavarra neighborhood, describes it, waiting for the photographer and me. He is one of the programmers of this facility born at the end of 2020 and which shares facilities with the Orfeó.
The first thing you see upon arriving is a bar that invites you to have anything. The Cornellà resident says they built it among the neighbors. “Whoever knew how to set up a bar did it, and whoever knew how to build a wall, did that too,” he details. Javier moves through the different spaces of Sala Padró as if he were in the hallway of his own home. I talk with him on the stage they rebuilt two years ago and he explains to me that, during the works, the workers found archives from the thirties that belonged to the Orfeó. A relic-stage.
He himself remembers that as a child he used to go to the cinema sessions offered by this space when the city could still boast of having a dozen theaters. Now, unfortunately, only Splau remains for them and, fortunately, the screenings of Sala Padró. In fact, this was its first objective. “The germ of the project was to create a film club among a few of us who had an affinity for cinema. But immediately other people appeared who said: ‘Why only a film club?’”, he recounts.
Thus, in mid-2021, a whole program made “from the neighborhood and for the neighborhood” began to offer local cultural alternatives. “We try to make everything free or with popular prices and to program artists from the area,” says Javier. Apart from cinema, in the hall we find concerts, workshops, and talks from Thursday to Sunday. This programmer also celebrates having been able to bring some stars: “One day we had a musical vermouth with Manu Chao, and Kiko Amat presented a book there. These things bring a lot of joy”.
There is no doubt that the key to success is the dedication that the neighbors put into it. “The birth was exciting, but also very tiring, because everyone has their job… But the neighborhood's response always gives you momentum to keep going,” concludes Javier.
Today, five years later, in this corner next to Àngel Guimerà square, popularly known as Trinquis square, there is a good atmosphere. Before tonight's performance begins, I greet Elena Losada, a volunteer of the space and one of the members of Poetrinquis, a poetry group from the venue that we talked about months ago in Cultura B. She goes to encourage the people in the bar to come in and enjoy the performance by Barcelona residents Isaac Fernández and Alba Escalon.
We abandon the conversation and the musicians come out to applause. Today they offer a concert at ground level, close to the audience, with an intimate format that honors the name of the initiative: Íntims. Three, two, one: Javier prepares to be the sound technician and the music floods this space that has been beating for five years in Cornellà.
