Calle Fuencarral: Shopping Sustainably
Walking down Calle Fuencarral, you’ll notice many things. Numerous shops, stores, bakeries, restaurants. But the one thing you won’t find is cars. One of Madrid’s busiest and trendiest streets has been pedestrianized as a part of Madrid’s broader efforts to promote sustainability and improve the urban environment.
Banning cars from the street has allowed more people to walk in a safer and enhanced public space. There are many benefits from pedestrianizing the street, such as reducing noise and air pollution, increasing the openness of public space, encouraging the use of public transportation, and improving overall safety. Given the many stores on the road, having an absence of cars encourages people to walk, cycle, or take public transport to the location as they are unable to drive there. This promotes sustainable urban planning as it prioritizes pedestrians and cyclists over private vehicles.
These driving restrictions are a part of Madrid’s broader efforts to reduce overall air and noise pollution in the city. While private vehicles and motorists take over the majority of the country, the city’s efforts to ban vehicles from crowded pedestrian areas challenge the normality of being able to drive everywhere. Forcing their citizens to take other forms of transportation not only shows that this is possible but that this push is necessary. The traffic congestion, coupled with the noise and air pollution, continue to bring down the air quality daily, which results in detrimental long-term effects on the environment as well as the body.
I spoke to a shop employee, Carmen Ruíz, who works at El Ganso, where the store is currently set in the middle of Calle Fuencarral. Having resided in Madrid for over 20 years, Carmen, though not employed at the store for that duration, has witnessed significant transformations on the street due to the ban.
Before the area was pedestrianized, there were fewer restaurants, as well as people in general. Due to the traffic and congestion within Calle Fuencarral, there was very little room for people to walk around as it is now, therefore curbing them from wanting to come to this area. However, since the area has been pedestrianized, Carmen says she has seen an abundant change, especially within local human interaction. While working in the store, her customers can take their time without worrying about whether their transportation will leave them. Thus, Spain’s move to pedestrianize these huge streets speaks volumes to their efforts in curbing climate change within the country which starts with changing the culture.
