Alicante says goodbye to the hippies of La Explanada after 45 years, without finding another location for them

It hurts them to be told that they have rejected all alternatives when none of those announced have proven feasible. The merchants who manage the traditional craft and souvenir stalls known as ‘hippies’ on La Explanada, Alicante’s famous seafront promenade, have closed their stalls today upon meeting the deadline ordered by the city council for the cessation of an activity. which – with some brief interruptions – has remained in the area for 45 years.

Their administrative concession is valid, signed until 2026, but they accepted the decision of the municipal plenary session to abandon the area earlier under the promise – which the City Council does not recognize despite the fact that there are numerous testimonies published in this regard – of being transferred to the area they occupy. Today the Postiguet beach car park, about 800 meters away in a straight line.

It hurts them to be told that they have rejected all alternatives when none of those announced have been feasible.

However, the reform project that the City Council envisaged has been put on the back burner and the parking lot is still there, so that alternative was denied. After much tug-of-war, the Department of Occupation of Public Roads proposed locating the booths between the Meliá Hotel and the beach, in a triangle of land whose management corresponds to the Provincial Coastal Service.

Without heeding the warnings of the municipal opposition, which supports the merchants, the council caused an unnecessary loss of time by forcing those affected to present all the documentation on their behalf. Costas clarified that the City Council itself should be the applicant. In the process, the hotels in the area had presented allegations to a plan that, in their opinion, generated problems for their activity, so the proposal was also rejected.

Finally, the last offer was born from a negotiation between Mayor Luis Barcala and the president of the Port Authority of Alicante, Luis Rodríguez: the existing sidewalk between the Canalejas parking lot – on whose roof the Children’s World attractions are located – and the exhibition hall of the Fish Market.

The merchants themselves had to make the corresponding measurements, because no one presented them with a study, and they consider that there is not enough space for passage, something that is obvious when one steps on the land in question. The possibility of locating on the wide port promenade, recently renovated, was rejected by the Port Authority.

Lucía believes that the only purpose of the City Council has been to throw them out, without further ado.

Lucía Ramello, spokesperson for the vendors, understands the position of the port managers, to whom the City Council is trying to transfer a problem that is not theirs. Lucía believes that the only purpose of the City Council has been to kick them out, without further ado. “If they don’t like the booths they could have changed them, if they just want crafts, if they wanted us to pay more… we were open to negotiating. But they just wanted us to leave.”

There are approximately 60 people left on the street. The situations are very diverse: some have been here all their lives, they are even the third generation in the same position; others acquired the right a few years ago with the hope of building a future for themselves. They haven’t lost it at all. These days, in their usual location, in front of closed booths that they have fifteen days to dismantle, they continue to collect signatures of support in the confidence that 45 years of faithful, peaceful and selfless presence will be recognized in some way.