Mike's Ideas

Photo of Pals, Catalunya by Michael Brody, all rights reserved. Almost looks as if it could be Alamos.

My pal Mike responded to my last post and we had the following "conversation" on Facebook. I think it is interesting.


Mike: Daan. Went to the blog and, ok, I may be one of those gringo sentimentalists. You can't hold onto everything, as you imply, and you probably shouldn't try. I have seen compromises that are good. For example, in Spain there are several restored Medieval towns, among them "Pals". Pals is too perfectly restored, really and its charms in some ways are fabricated thanks in part to it's wealthy summer home inhabitants. But the town is proud and tourism thrives. I will take that over what is happening in your town. Question, does Alamos want to preserve itself but simply can't afford it? Great blog writing on your part - keep it up!

Daan: Thanks, Mike. There is a very small faction of people who are interested in preservation, but it is too small. Most are true believers in the idea of progress and modernization. They don't realize what treasures we have here, or their economic importance. And there is a real lack of expertise as far as how to go about preserving. Here also there is a kind of inauthentic disneylandish alteration is some cases. There is a great book by Antonin Artaud, a French surrealist who fell in love with Mexico, which states that Mexico doesn't realize what it has, and it takes a foriegner to see it and explain it. Look for the book...it is really good.

Mike: Perhaps tourism dollars drive preservation in these small towns in Spain. There is no doubt that Catalunya (where Pals is) is both entrepreneurial AND preserving of its culture. These 2 things can go very well together. If there were just a few (locals) with these attitudes headway could be made. I will check the book out. Would locals like tourism?

Daan: As it stands now, Alamos is very economically dependent on tourism. But hurricane Norbert has hurt us, as has the recession, and US news media's exaggeration of current events. Sustainable development, tourism and preservation can work very well together. It is the only way forward! But long term vision is lacking, and if somebody has it, they get crucified. Immediate personal gain and self-interest rule.

Another factor is the municipal government, which changes every three years. Each administration tries to see how much it can do in just three years, and mostly focuses on basic needs. That rules out long-term planning. Only a nonprofit could do the trick, but that requires at least some consensus, and reaching consensus is very tricky.

Mike...your approach is 100% correct. My mistake here a few years ago was to try to rally people around the idea of preservation instead of just quietly forming a nonprofit which could link preservation and sustainabilty with tourism and business. It takes the right approach, right personality, right charisma.