This adapt or die. this street musicians Barcelona they are passing our, mobile transfer service, to cash out the donations they always receive. “People no longer carry coins, many of them applaud you and say to you, ‘I would give you something, but I’m not wearing anything’. Now I go with Bizum and it works,” says Levan Shengelia, a roaming guitarist for Rodalies with an account number attached to his instrument.
The other side of the coin is the survivor at street vendors or charities—the last mattress when all else fails—and excluded from the digital world. “Ours? I don’t know what this is,” replied Mohammed, who was selling castanets for two euros in front of the Barcelona cathedral. Now he’s collecting half of what he did before the pandemic. You can only eat once a day.
It’s nearly impossible to navigate the Portal de l’Angel and not follow the blues rhythm with your feet. With trombone, trumpet, guitar, banjo, and even a washboard, Boozan Dukes has a crowd of people clapping and dancing to their song every hour. In front of him, in a suitcase, they are showing their records. Some kids come to give them coins. They have a mobile phone number on a banner where you can donate ‘online’. “We don’t live from this but we had a very bad day with the pandemic and decided to open an account. It is not used very much, we earn an income every three weeks,” says trumpet player Zelig J. Zeljkovic.
On the other hand, Bizum was a real discovery for Shengelia. “When you play games on the street, on the subway, on the terraces of bars… people usually give you 50 cents, or at most a euro or two. They get you from seven to ten through us!“said the guitarist. Realizing the devastation of the epidemic, he decided to open this account. “First we could not work due to restrictions, then many people were afraid to pay with money or bills. Almost no one carries cash anymore,” he explains. He survived with some savings, but now makes up for lost cash donations with electronic service. “Yes, I can live! I pay 600 euros hire and i can save“, Explain.
radical change
“I think I’m the only musician in Barcelona who doesn’t use Bizum,” says the harp virtuoso Juan Fernández, who goes to Barcelona’s cathedral square every morning. “Look, I downloaded the app but I must have done something wrong because it’s not working… Also it scares me because tax authorities. “You don’t know if a lunatic will pay you a fortune, and if you don’t pay taxes they will fine you,” he says.
However, the ‘online’ world assumes you have to register. “There is no other. I am anti-digitalization, but if you can’t beat it… you have to join,” he says, and resigned. To do 19 years can raise up to 1,200 euros per day plays in the same plaza and sells 20 CDs. “Now, with my luck, I can get to 30 euros a day. and selling one CD a month. It’s been a radical change,” he continues. He created a profile on social networks called @juangratiniano, through which he was able to give or play concerts at events around the world. For example, they recruited him to perform next week at a conference in Brussels.
Mohamed plays the castanets as he ascends Calle del Bisbe, a few steps from Fernández. He’s not a musician, he just sells them. They cost two euros, display them on a cardboard poster on a white sheet. He has been in this business for nine years. “I worked at a cell phone store in Raval for six years but they closed down. I’m 48 and can’t find anything…” he explains. At night, he sells the shiny dolls he has flown off Las Ramblas. “People tell me they want to pay with a credit card… but I don’t have the money for it. He says, ‘We’ve been earning very little since Corona.’ Before the pandemic, he was able to receive 50 euros a day. Now with luck, he has reached 20. “The police come three times a day,” he adds. He owes 250 euros, fine for unauthorized selling.
Diabetic without sight
Does it make you live? “Yes,” Mohammed replies. But the problem is the life to which he is doomed. He sleeps on a bed in a ‘flat patera’ in Raval. Eight men in a two-bedroom house. He eats only once a day, at seven in the evening.. Chapati is an Indian bread. diabetic and Losing vision of the eye due to excess sugar “The doctor tells me I’m bad, but I have nothing else, I can’t take care of myself,” she explains, bloodied. In addition, with the little money he has, he sends 150 euros every month to his children who go to school in Pakistan.
It is a fact that the 65-year-old Catalan Enric, who sells senyera bracelets, is also included in Pônt del Bisbe. “After the process lawsuit I started selling yellow ties,” explains this man, who made a living on a long-term unemployment benefit a week ago. “They took it from me,” she complains. He sold jewelry, firefighting supplies, became a watchman… and lives in a house on the outskirts of the city. “Now all I have is this, but very little,” the man continues. “us? what is our?“, Question.
Source: Informacion
